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THE 


PRO  AND  CON 


0* 


UNIVERSALISM 


BOTH  AS  TO  ITS 


DOCTRINES  AND  MORAL  BEARINGS; 


IN    A   SERIES    OF    ORIGINAL    ARTICLES, 


BY  GEORGE   ROGERS. 


STEREOTYPE    EDITION. 


CINCINNATI: 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  AUTHOR,  BY  R.  P.  BROOKS, 

Walnut,  between  Third  and  Fourth  Streets. 

1839. 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1837, 

BY  GEORGE  ROGERS, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Ohio. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Note  to  the  Reader, 4 

Alice  Sherwood,  or,  the  Pennsylvania  Valley — a  tale, 5 

Preliminary  Considerations, 40 

Universal  Salvation  proven  from  the  Attributes  of  God, 49 

Thoughts  on  the  Law  of  God, 68 

Universal  Salvation  proven  from  the  Relations  of  God  to  Man,. ...     76 

Hymn  of  Consolation, 99 

Universal  Salvation  further  proved  from  the  Scriptures, 100 

Hymn — Abrahamic  Covenant, 130 

Popular  Debate,  No.  1. — Is  the  Future  Salvation  conditional  ]. . . .   131 

No.  2. — Universahsm  reduced  to  absurdity, 145 

No.  3. — Relative  to  the  last  paragraph  of  Matt.xxv.  157 

No.  4. — Whence  did  the  opposition  to  Christ  and 

his  Apostles  proceed  ? 188 

No.  5. — Do  the  Scriptures  teach  that  there  will  be 

a  General  Judgment  after  Death  1 193 

Miscellaneous  Objections  considered, 22 1 

A  Metaphysical  Argument  from  Dr.  Beecher  examined, 235 

Millennium  Hymn, 238 

The  nature  and  ends  of  Divine  Punishment, 239 

The  doctrine  of  Hell  Punishment  examined, 263 

Does  Foreknowledge  necessarily  imply  Foreordination  ? ;  280 

Election  and  Reprobation  Scripturally  illustrated, 303 

Review  of  the  Argument  on  the  words  Everlasting,  Forever,  &c.,. .   313 

Lake  of  Fire  and  Second  Death, 321 

An  Important  Question  considered, 325 

Diversity  of  Views  among  Universalists, 329 

The  Intermediate  State  considered, 337 

Hymn— The  Better  World, 347 

Revelations  from  Hell,  by  a  Damned  Spirit, 349 

Appendix  to  the  same,. 373 

Hymn — The  Gospel  Consummation, 375 

Index  to  Comparisons  and  Illustrations  employed  in  this  work,. . . .  377 
Index  to  Texts  commented  on,  usually  urged  against  Universalism,  381 
3 


NOTE   TO   THE   READER. 


More  than  a  year  elapsed  from  the  time  this  work  was  commenced 
until  it  was  completed  ;  during  which  the  author  performed  some  seven 
or  eight  thousand  miles  of  travel,  by  steamboat,  and  stages,  and  on  horse- 
back, besides  delivering  some  two  or  three  hundred  discourses.  It  was 
amidst  these  employments — in  addition  to  those  arising  from  the  charge 
of  a  family — that  these  pages  were  composed,  and  that  (the  reader  is 
assured)  without  the  slightest  aid  from  any  kindred  publication.  With 
the  candid,  these  facts  will  form  a  reasonable  apology  for  some  of  its 
defects,  of  style,  or  argument,  or  consistency,  from  which  it  will  by  no 
means  be  pretended  that  it  is  free. 

In  saying  that  he  derived  no  aid  from  kindred  publications,  the  author 
would  not  be  understood  as  setting  up  a  claim  to  entire  originality  for  his 
production ;  on  the  contrary,  he  is  full  well  aware,  that  on  so  beaten  a 
theme  it  is  impossible  to  write  so  lengthily,  without  occasionally  repeating 
what  others  have  previously  advanced.  His  purpose,  however,  was  to 
avoid  this  as  far  as  practicable,  and  to  add  something  to  the  common 
stock  of  Universalist  literature ;  something,  too,  which  by  its  mildness 
and  candor  should  be  adapted  to  commend  our  doctrines  to  the  popular 
notice  and  approval.  How  far  he  has  succeeded  in  this,  is  left  to  the 
reader's  decision. 

CiNcijfiTATi,  Nov.  8th,  1838. 


ALICE  SHERWOOD, 

OR 

THE   PENNSYLVANIA  VALLEY: 

A  TALE, 

Shovomg  the  tnfiuence  qf  certain  religious  doctrines  on  individual  and  social  life. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Conceive,  reader,  if  you  please,  a  deep  and  quiet  valley,  of  about 
five  miles  in  length  from  the  points  whence  it  takes  its  particular 
designation,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  in  medial  breadth  ;  the  hills,  by 
which  on  both  sides  it  is  hemmed  in,  may  be  some  two  or  three  hun- 
dred feet  in  altitude,  and  are  very  precipitous,  varying  indeed  but 
a  little  from  perpendicularity ;  from  their  bases  to  their  summits 
they  are  covered  with  a  thick  natural  growth  of  hemlock-fir-trees, 
intermingled  with  stunted  hazels  and  sumachs,  save  that  here  and 
there  may  be  seen  a  soft  spot  which  has  been  cleared  by  the  axe  of 
the  settler :  and  how  picturesque  is  the  effect  of  those  spots ! 
they  occur  mostly  in  the  occasional  curvatures  and  indentations  by 
which  Nature,  with  her  usual  taste,  has  varied  the  monotony  of  these 
mountainous  ridges;  or  in  the  defiles  which  the  rivulets  from  the 
interior  have  scooped  out  in  their  journeyings  towards  the  ocean. 

I  will  suppose  you  standing  on  one  of  these  acclivities,  especially 
the  one  on  the  eastern  side,  for  there  the  advantage  of  survey  is 
greatest,  and  the  eye  from  thence  can  take  in  an  extent  of  prospect 
only  bounded  by  its  reach  of  vision.  What  a  scene  of  loveliness 
you  now  have  before  you  !  it  is  but  little  rivalled,  if  at  all,  by  the 
far-famed  and  classic  Wyoming.  A  wide  reach  of  fertile  bottom 
land  under  excellent  cultivation  stretches  for  more  than  a  mile  in 
your  front,  and  for  miles  on  either  hand  ;  it  varies  in  its  shades  of 
green  according  to  the  diversified  products  with  which  it  is  teem- 
ing ;  the  rich  and  extensive  pasture  grounds  are  mottled  with  cattle, 
and  sheep,  and  lambs,  which  are  feeding  very  contentedly,  appa- 
rently conscious  that  their  "  lines  are  fallen  to  them  in  pleasant 
places."    The  trees  which  have  been  spared  by  the  inhabitants  for 

Vol.  L— A  2 


6  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

purposes  of  shade  and  ornament,  throw  out  their  branches  with  a 
luxuriancy  which  betokens  a  generous  soil,  and  certainly  contribute 
their  full  quota  toward  the  aggregate  beauty  of  the  picture. 

A  road,  you  perceive,  runs  lengthwise  through  the  vale,  along 
which  many  neat  habitations  are  sprinkled ;  and  about  midway 
there  arises  the  steeple  of  a  modest  and  tasteful  house  of  worship ; 
on  its  vane  at  this  moment  the  sun's  setting  beams  are  reposing : 
a  more  fitting  emblem  of  the  mild  and  cheering  character  of  the 
doctrines  dispensed  within  that  temple,  could  not  well  be  ima- 
gined— doctrines  adapted  to  shed  on  the  spirit's  parting  hour  the 
light  of  an  immoveable  trust  in  heaven. 

But  the  brightest  feature  in  this  lovely  landscape  is  yet  unmarked: 
cast  your  eye,  reader,  toward  the  foot  of  yonder  western  barrier ; 
there  rolls  a  river,  so  exquisitely  pure  and  placid,  that  it  resembles 
a  burnished  mirror ;  it  is,  however,  partially  hidden  from  our  view 
by  the  elms  and  sycamores  which  fringe  its  margin,  and  immedi- 
ately opposite  to  us  its  channel  is  divided  by  an  island.  How  soft 
and  verdant !  The  muses,  and  the  graces,  yea,  and  goddesses 
too,  might  be  well  content  with  grottoes  on  that  green  and  quiet 
spot.  I  fancy  that,  of  a  calm  evening,  we  might  hear  at  this  dis- 
tance— perhaps  we  might — the  murmuring  of  the  stream  where  it 
is  broken  by  the  upper  point  of  the  island ;  and  then,  in  addition 
to  this  exhibition  of  Nature's  taste  in  penciling,  we  should  have  a 
pretty  specimen  of  her  skill  in  music. 

That  river,  reader,  is  the  Susquehannah,  and  I  doubt  me  much  if 
in  all  this  wide  world  the  lord  of  day  looks  down  upon  a  stream 
which  reflects  back  his  glory  more  clearly  than  does  this  beautiful 
daughter  of  the  Otsego  lake.  I  have  threaded  its  shores  in  all 
their  windings,  from  where  it  issues  from  the  aforesaid  lake  among 
the  hills,  to  where  it  blends  its  translucent  waters  with  the  briny 
billows  of  the  Chesapeake  bay;  and  nowhere,  methinks,  within 
equal  limits,  has  beauty,  in  its  softer  forms,  consecrated  to  itself  a 
greater  number  of  dwelling  places :  its  bordering  hills  present 
every  conceivable  variety  of  aspect ;  now  they  incline  in  grassy  or 
arable  slopes ;  anon  they  tower  in  perpendicular  or  beetling  ledges ; 
here  they  sweep  away  in  graceful  curves  a  mile  or  more  from  its 
verge,  leaving  space  for  broad  tracts  of  level  and  rich  alluvion  ;  and 
there  they  run  for  miles  along  the  river's  brink,  and  mirror  their 
huge  forms  upon  its  waters,  as  though  Nature  were  as  proud 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  7 

as  Other  beauties  are,  of  contemplating  the  reflection  of  her  charms. 
I  have  told  you,  reader,  this  river's  name,  but  the  valley  itself  you 
must  be  content  with  knowing  under  the  fictitious  cognomen  of 
Univkrsalia.  Now  let  me  point  your  attention  to  that  school 
house  :  there  are  two  in  the  valley,  but  this  to  which  I  allude  is 
toward  its  southern  extremity ;  it  is  a  wooden  structure,  surround- 
ed, you  perceive,  by  a  grassy  plat,  and  shaded,  almost  embowered, 
with  beautiful  forest  trees  :  it  wants  but  to  be  white-washed  to 
render  it  a  perfect  picture  of  the  rural  kind.  I  must  give  the  set- 
tlers a  hint  of  this  when  I  next  visit  Universalia  ;  for  pity  it  were 
that  a  scene  so  nearly  perfect,  should  lack  those  little  attentions 
which  would  constitute  it  completely  so.  I  may  add  also,  by  the 
way,  that  in  my  opinion,  school  premises  every  where  should  be 
rendered  as  agreeable  as  possible  ;  for  there  the  members  of  human 
society  gather  most  of  their  earliest  associations,  and  these  exert 
no  small  influence  upon  their  subsequent  lives.  Virtue  and  hap- 
piness not  only  accompany,  but  they  also  promote  each  other.  By 
as  much,  then,  as  it  is  an  object  worthy  of  all  attention  to  form  a 
happy  and  virtuous  society,  by  so  much  is  it  important  to  com- 
mence at  the  fountain  head,  and  to  blend  with  the  business  of 
juvenile  instruction  as  much  of  purity  and  pleasantness  as  possi- 
ble.   With  this  digression  I  will  close  my  first  chapter. 


CHAPTER  II. 

She  who  teaches  the  school  at  present,  in  the  building  above  de- 
scribed, is  a  youg  lady  from  Connecticut:  her  stature  is  about  the 
middling  height,  her  form  slender,  the  color  of  her  hair  and  eyes 
a  light  hazel ;  the  latter  are  large  and  prominent,  and,  by  their 
expression,  say  much  for  the  sweetness  and  innocence  of  the  in- 
dwelling soul.  I  could  tell  you  the  true  name  of  this  young  lady 
if  I  chose,  but  I  do  not  choose  ;  and,  therefore,  since  she  must  bear 
some  name  in  our  story,  we  will  call  her  Alice  Sherwood.  She 
is  not,  as  I  have  said,  a  native  of  this  valley,  but  is  an  exotic,  of 
recent  transplantation  from  the  "  land  of  steady  habits ;"  and  sooth 
to  say,  there  blooms  not  in  all  the  vale  a  lovelier  flower  than  Alice, 
which  is  saying  much  for  her,  for  many  a  lovely  flower  blooms  there. 

In  religion,  Alice  is  a  Calvinist  of  the  modern  stamp  :  of  course 
her  faith  is  but  an  educational  one,  in  which  her  understanding  has 


8  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

extremely  little  concern ;  for  what  concern  can  the  understanding 
of  a  young  lady  of  eighteen  have  with  the  mysteries  of  the  trinity, 
"which  represents  Jehovah  as  being  both  the  father  and  the  son  of 
himself! — native  depravity — the  demands  of  the  divine  law  against 
vs  to  an  infinite  amount,  on  the  ground  of  a  debt  alleged  to  have 
been  contracted  by  our  progenitors,  some  thousands  of  years  before 
we  were  born  ! — the  satisfaction  of  this  claim  by  the  murder  of  an 
innocent  victim — the  transfer  of  our  guilt,  both  original  and  actual, 
upon  the  head  of  the  unoffending  Son  of  God — and  ihe  imputation  of  his 
righteousness  to  creatures  who  have  no  righteousness  of  their  own  ? 

These  are  subtleties  for  the  brain  of  the  metaphysical  divine, 
but  are  not  at  all  suited  to  the  unsophisticated  mind,  and  guile- 
less heart,  of  a  young  lady  of  eighteen. 

It  will  be  understood,  then,  that  in  describing  our  heroine  as  a 
Calvinist  of  the  modern  school,  I  mean,  simply,  that  she  adheres 
to  that  party  from  educational  and  family  prepossessions.  The 
dogmas  of  this,  as  distinguished  from  those  of  the  old  school,  are, 
that  God  has  provided  in  the  gospel  ample  means  to  save  those 
whom  from  all  eternity  he  unchangeably  determined  to  damn ! — that 
Christ  shed  his  blood  for  the  same  class,  with  the  certainty  before 
him,  that  they  could  never  be  availed  by  it ! — that  all  may  be  saved 
if  they  will,  notwithstanding  that  none  can  will  to  be  saved  but  such 
as  God  has  foreordained  to  that  end,  and  they  can  do  no  otherwise 
than  will  it ! — and  that  the  chief  aggravation  of  the  miseries  of 
the  damned,  will  arise  from  their  having  rejected  a  gospel  that  was 
never  meant  for  them,  and  which  it  was  utterly  out  of  their  power 
to  accept !  with  other  matters  equally  sane  and  salutary. 

Alice,  nevertheless,  is  a  good  and  pious  girl — for  there  are  good 
and  pious  persons  of  every  religious  persuasion — either  because 
their  natural  dispositions  are  so  good  as  to  defy  the  corrupting 
influence  of  a  bad  faith,  or  because  they  do  not  entertain  that  faith 
with  so  firm  a  persuasion  of  mind  as  to  allow  it  its  full  weight  of 
evil  influence.  However,  so  stands  the  fact,  be  the  philosophy  of 
it  what  it  may  ;  and  it  is  certainly  better  of  the  two  to  be  theoreti- 
cally wrong,  and  practically  right,  than  the  contrary :  for  if  the 
heart  be  wrong,  the  head  will  easily  be  induced  to  stray  with  it ; 
whereas,  if  the  former  be  right,  the  latter  may  easily  be  redeemed 
from  its  errors.  And  yet  it  must  be  confessed  that  many  a  young 
and  innocent  heart  receives  its  earliest  taint  from  the  princi- 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  9 

pies  which  a  false  education  imposes  upon  the  understanding. 
Alice  had  been  taken  seriously  to  task  by  her  sincere  but  mis- 
taken old  father,  shortly  previous  to  her  leaving  home,  because  she 
had  commended  the  goodness  of  a  certain  lady  of  her  acquaintance. 
"  You  must  always  bear  it  in  mind,  my  dear,"  said  old  Mr.  Sher- 
wood, "  that  persons  who  are  out  of  the  church  are  in  a  state  of 
nature — which  is  a  state  of  unmixed  depravity — however  good, 
therefore,  they  may  seem  to  be,  they  are  in  fact  vile  and  abomina- 
ble :  they  cannot  think  a  good  thought,  nor  do  a  good  act — and 
their  deeds  which  seem  to  be  good  are  but  'deceitful  workings,' 
and  are  more  detestable  in  the  divine  sight,  as  being  the  offspring 
of  hypocrisy,  than  are  even  those  that  we  would  pronounce  evil. 
Beware,  then,  of  looking  to  the  unregeneraie  for  any  thing  truly 
virtuous  ;  you  will  be  deceived  with  specious  appearances,  but  will 
never  find  what  you  seek ;  '  for  who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out 
of  an  unclean  1  Not  one  ;' — the  virtues  of  the  unconverted  will  be 
but  as  millstones  around  their  necks  to  sink  them  the  deeper  under 
the  waves  of  divine  wrath."  "  But  my  dear  father,"  enquired 
Alice,  "  is  it  not  possible  for  a  person  to  be  pure  and  upright,  and 
as  such,  acceptable  to  our  Creator,  even  though  without  reli- 
gion in  our  sense  of  the  term  V  "  In  our  sense  of  the  term  .'"  some- 
what impatiently  retorted  Mr.  Sherwood  ;  "  I  tell  you,  Alice,  that 
there  is  no  other  true  sense  of  the  term,  but  that  which  you  are 
pleased  to  characterize  as  ours  ,-  and  if  a  person  be  without  religion 
in  this  sense,  then  is  he  without  it  in  any  sense — his  heart  is  rank 
in  rebellion  against  Jehovah,  and  he  would,  were  it  possible,  tear 
him  from  his  throne.  Talk  not  to  me,  then,  of  the  goodness  of 
unregenerated  man  ;  '  there  is  no  soundness  in  him,'  but  '  from 
the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot,  he  is  nothing  but 
wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putrifying  sores.'  " 

Such  are  the  dark  principles  of  theology  in  which  our  heroine 
was  educated — principles  which,  had  they  taken  root  in  her  mind, 
would  have  driven  thence  all  its  native  benevolence,  and  with  their 
sombre  shadows  must  have  darkened  her  vision  to  all  that  is  fair 
and  beautiful  in  life  :  happily  for  her  they  found  not  a  congenial 
soil  in  her  nature;  and,  consequently,  although  they  perplexed 
her  understanding,  they  failed  of  corrupting,  in  any  great  degree, 
that  pure  fountain  whence  principally  the  streams  which  sadden 
or  gladden  existence  have  their  source — the  heart. 


10  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 


CHAPTER  III. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  features  of  Christianity — not,  alas !  as 
it  commonly  exists  in  the  practice  of  its  professed  disciples,  but 
as  taught  by  its  author — is  the  spirit  of  kindness  and  forbearance 
it  enjoins  toward  those  who  differ  from  us  in  faith  and  principles^ 
"  If  ye  salute  your  brethren  only,"  saith  Christ,  "  what  do  ye  more 
than  others  1  for  even  the  publicans  do  the  same."  And  the  moral 
of  that  affecting  story  of  the  man  who  fell  among  thieves,  manifestly 
is,  that  all  are  to  be  considered  as  our  neighbors  who  stand  in  need 
of  our  services,  that  good  Samaritan-like  we  must  not  stop  to  en- 
quire whether  the  claimants  upon  our  sympathies  be  Jew  or  Gentile, 
but  must  do  good  to  all,  without  distinction  of  nation  or  sect. 

Alice  Sherwood  had  not  been  accustomed  to  exhibitions  of  this 
spirit,  although  her  whole  life  had  been  spent  in  the  bosom  of  reli- 
gious society  ;  for  even  the  christian  charities  of  the  present  age 
are  but  too  much  confined  within  party  limits,  and  are  exceedingly 
selfish  and  calculating.  She  had  been  wont  to  hear  denounced  as 
heretics,  all  who  withheld  assent  to  the  dogmas  of  her  faith,  how- 
ever distinguished  they  might  be  for  uprightness  and  amiability 
of  character.  One  of  her  first  impressions,  therefore,  relative  to 
the  people  amongst  whom  she  is  now  sojourning,  was,  that  as  they 
were  perfectly  tolerant  toward  persons  of  all  religious  opinions,  it 
was  not  possible  that  they  possessed  any  religious  opinions  of 
their  own.  But  see — she  is  at  this  moment  engaged  in  writing 
to  her  parents — we  can  take  the  liberty  of  peeping  over  her  shoul- 
ders, and  of  thus  satisfying  to  the  full  our  curiosity  as  to  all  these 
matters.  With  motives  so  laudable,  it  will  be  no  trespass  against 
politeness,  I  trust. 

*  *  *  *  "  Having  described  to  you  the  situation 
of  my  school,  I  proceed,  my  dear  parents,  to  acquaint  you  with 
other  circumstances  connected  with  my  condition  here.  And  first, 
I  am  almost  wholly  deprived  of  access  to  the  outward  means  of 
grace.  There  is  no  church  of  our  persuasion  short  of  a  distance 
of  four  miles  from  my  residence,  and  even  it  is  on  the  other  shore 
of  the  river,  in  a  delightful  village  called  the  point.  The  expense 
of  ferriage  thither  and  back  is  incurred  each  time  I  attend  it,  and 
there  is  about  a  mile  of  the  way  called  the  narrows,  which  is 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  11 

often  unsafe :  it  lies  between  abrupt  ledges  of  rock  and  the  water's 
edge,  and  the  road  is  scarcely  of  sufficient  width  to  admit  the  pas- 
sage of  a  vehicle.  I  seldom  think  of  surmounting  these  difficulties 
to  attend  worship  there.  As  to  the  people  here,  they  are  nearly 
all  of  one  religion,  and  that  a  new  kind  to  me.  In  moral  and  social 
respects,  however,  they  are  all  that  I  could  wish  them  to  be.  I 
have  found  very  intimate  companions  in  two  young  ladies — they 
are  both  very  thorough  subjects  of  this  new  faith,  and  very  zeal- 
ous in  its  propagation.  I  must  do  them  the  justice  to  say,  that  in 
my  opinion,  no  good  cause  could  fail  of  gaining  by  their  advocacy. 
The  one  is  about  my  own  height  and  age,  and  is  a  very  imperso- 
nation of  mildness  and  sweetness  of  disposition.  An  angel  sent 
from  heaven  to  soothe  a  wounded  spirit,  might  borrow  her  voice 
and  accents  with  advantage.  The  other  is  somewhat  her  superior 
in  years,  and  likewise  in  those  accomplishments  which  are  the 
result  of  cultivation.  She  seems  also  to  surpass  her  companion  in 
religious  zeal,  from  the  fact  that  her  natural  temperament  is  more 
ardent :  her  peculiar  views  in  theology  are  with  her  a  favorite  topic 
of  conversation,  and  her  language  is  often  marked  with  much 
felicity  of  expression. 

"  I  supposed,  till  I  had  been  several  weeks  with  this  people,  that 
they  had  discarded  religion  in  every  form  ;  for  I  had  witnessed 
amongst  them  no  acts  of  devotion,  nor  did  their  external  appear- 
ance or  bearing  indicate  piety,  according  to  my  ideas  of  it. 

"  On  one  fine  evening,  after  school,  I  was  enjoying  a  ramble  on 
the  mountain  which  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  this  beautiful 
vale — I  had  reached  a  point  in  the  obscure  path  I  was  pursuing 
where  it  emerges  from  a  thicket  of  sumachs,  when  I  was  startled 
at  finding  myself  very  close  to  an  aged  man,  who  was  seated  on 
the  ground,  apparently  so  occupied  with  his  own  thoughts  as  to 
be  unconscious  of  my  approach  :  I  soon,  however,  regained  self- 
possession,  when  I  had  scanned  his  venerable  appearance,  and 
catching  his  eye  at  length,  had  read  its  intellectual  and  benign  ex- 
pression ;  besides,  I  had  seen  him  before,  and  knew  him  to  be  a 
highly  respectable  old  gentleman,  and  looked  up  to  by  the  settlers 
as  a  kind  of  patriarchal  head.  He  greeted  me  with  much  courtesy, 
and  motioned  me  to  take  a  seat  on  a  moss-covered  fragment  of 
rock  opposite  to  him,  which,  as  I  was  short  of  breath  from  toiling 
up  the  rugged  acclivity,  I  was  sufficiently  inclined  to  do. 


Id 


PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 


" '  I  have  been  indulging,  for  perhaps  the  last  time  on  earth,'  said 
the  old  Squire,  (for  by  such  familiar  cognomen  is  he  known  in  these 
parts,)  '  in  an  evening  survey  of  the  wonderfully  varied  works  of 
our  Creator :  the  scriptures  are  certainly  correct  in  affirming,  *  he 
hath  made  every  thing  beautiful  in  his  time,'  nor  beautiful  only, 
for  they  speak  forth  to  the  distrusting  heart  of  man  the  most  intel- 
ligible assurances  of  his  Maker's  infinite  loving-kindness.  With 
all  their  grandeur  and  glory,  they  nevertheless  but  faintly  shadow 
forth  his  wisdom  and  benevolence.    The  poet's  deduction  is  just : 

*  Thus  wondrous  fair,  thyself  how  wondrous  then  1 
Unspeakable,  who  dwellest  in  highest  heaven. 
To  us  invisible,  or  dimly  seen 
In  these  thy  lower  works.' 

"  '  When  I  was  a  child,'  says  Paul,  '  I  thought  as  a  child.'  I 
remember  that  when  a  lad  I  used  to  think  the  whole  world  was 
comprised  between  these  parallel  ridges.  How  great  was  my 
surprise  when  I  first  ascended  to  where  we  now  are  sitting,  and 
beheld  range  behind  range  iji  apparently  interminable  continuity. 
I  used  to  set  bounds  to  the  goodness  of  God  from  the  same  prin- 
ciple. My  religious  education  had  prescribed  for  me  but  a  narrow 
range  of  intellectual  vision.  I  supposed  that  the  sun  of  his  mercy 
arose  and  set  within  that  contracted  horizon — but,  *  when  I  be- 
came a  man  1  put  away  childish  things,'  and  for  many  years  have 
calmly  rested  in  the  persuasion,  that  the  divine  benevolence  is  as 
immeasurable  as  space,  and  as  all-embracing  ;  which  blessed  trust 
has  been  the  light  of  my  spirit  in  my  darker  hours,  and  continues 
to  be  so  still  as  the  day-star  of  my  life  is  setting.' 

"  I  expressed  my  surprise  at  his  utterance  of  these  pious  senti- 
ments, '  in  as  much,'  said  I,  *  as  I  have  concluded  with  confidence 
that  there  is  no  religion  amongst  you — you  certainly  never  pray, 

and '    '  Pardon  me,'  interrupted  he,  '  how  came  you  by  the 

certain  knowledge  that  we  never  pray  V  '  I  infer  it,'  was  my 
answer,  '  from  the  fact  that  I  never  either  saw  or  heard  you  so 
engaged.'  *  Not  the  most  logical  inference  in  the  world,  my  fair 
friend,'  he  rejoined,  *  since  many  things  are  constantly  transpiring 
around  you  which  you  neither  see  nor  hear.  Moreover,  the  reli- 
gion of  Christ  courts  not  the  eye  nor  the  ear  of  man — it  is  modest, 
and  is  content  with  being  visible  in  its  effects.  To  see  or  hear  us 
pray,  therefore,  would  be  to  detect  us  in  a  flagrant  violation  of  the 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  13 

gospel  command  :  *  When  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy  closet,  and 
when  thou  hast  shut  the  door,  then  pray  to  thy  Father  which  is  in 
secret,'  etc.  Have  you,  young  lady,  been  so  accustomed  to  an 
infraction  of  this  express  precept,  that  its  very  observance  on  our 
part  is  deemed  evidence  that  we  are  irreligious  V 

"  My  dear  parents,  what  could  I  reply  to  this  ?  I  felt  it,  indeed, 
to  be  a  thrust  that  there  v/as  no  possibility  of  parrying.  So, 
abandoning  this  ground,  I  attempted  to  sustain  my  impeachment 
upon  another.  *How  is  it,  sir,'  I  inquired,  'that  I  observe 
among  you  none  of  those  anxieties  ih^t  are  usual  to  pious  persons  ? 
Your  people  exhibit  no  solemn  feelings  with  regard  to  death  and 
eternity — they  have  no  concern  about  the  preparation  requisite  to 
stand  in  the  awful  presence  of  their  Maker.  Does  not  this  evince 
their  destitution  of  piety  V 

"  I  wish  you  could  have  witnessed  the  surprise  which  these 
inquiries  elicited.  He  surveyed  me  in  silence  for  a  time,  but  with 
a  most  placid  expression  of  countenance.  '  Can  it  then  be  possi- 
ble !'  heat  length  exclaimed,  '  that  a  freedom  from  distrusts  in 
the  goodness  of  heaven  exposes  to  the  charge  of  being  without 
religion  ? — for  rest  assured,  young  lady,  that  the  anxieties  and 
awful  feelings,  of  which  you  speak,  can  be  no  otherwise  rationally 
interpreted,  than  as  evincing  a  want  of  confidence  in  God.  Let 
me  put  the  case  to  your  own  private  experience.  You  are  at 
present  far  from  the  home  of  your  parents — suppose  that  the  time 
for  your  return  were  at  hand,  would  your  mind  be  affected  with 
anxieties,  lest,  for  want  of  certain  preparations,  they  might  spurn 
you  from  their  presence.]  or  would  you  indulge  in  anticipations 
of  delight,  that  the  moment  was  near  that  would  find  you  enfolded 
in  their  arms,  and  your  heart  cheered  with  their  benedictions  ]'    '  I 

should,  certainly,'  said  I, '  be  affected  in  the  latter  way,  but ' 

'Pardon  me  once  more,'  he  replied,  'that  but  comprises  the 
whole  ditficulty.  Your  trust  in  your  Father  in  heaven  is  not 
equal  to  that  in  your  parents  on  earth.  That  is  the  sum  of 
the  matter — your  religious  education  is  to  blame  for  this  ;  you 
have  been  accustomed  to  a  class  of  religionists  whose  confidence 
in  heaven's  love  is  as  weak  as  your  own.  You  now,  however, 
have  found  a  different  people ;  we  trust  that  the  Being  who  made 
us,  is  able,  and  as  willing  as  able,  to  take  care  of  us  ;  he  clothes 
the  lily — he  feeds  the  sparrow — and  why  should  we  not  be  equally 

Vol.  I— B 


14  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  subjects  of  his  providence  ?  But  see,  my  young  friend,  it  is 
time  we  were  on  our  way  down  the  mountain,  for  one  half  of  the 
sun's  disk  is  already  below  the  western  horizon.' 

"  The  above  conversation,  my  dear  parents,  is  but  an  outline  of 
that  which  took  place  betwixt  the  old  Squire  and  myself;  he  is 
very  prolix  in  discourse,  but  his  ideas  are  strikingly  just,  and  his 
arguments  forcible.  Whether  it  be  from  the  influence  of  religion, 
or  philosophy,  or  both  combined,  I  know  not,  but  so  it  is  that  he 
maintains  with  admirable  composure  his  position  on  that  awful 
line,  where  the  territory  of  time  unites  with  that  of  eternity. 

"  I  will  close  this  letter  with  some  remarks  as  to  our  co-reli- 
gionists in  this  region.  E  ither  they  are  much  below  the  same  class 
in  Connecticut,  in  sincerity,  moderation,  and  courtesy,  or  the  veil 
of  partiality,  through  which  I  may  have  been  accustomed  to  see 
them,  has  been  removed ;  for  cretain  it  is,  that  in  respect  to  these 
indispensable  christian  graces,  they  compare  very  disadvantage- 
ously  with  the  people  of  this  valley,  which  is  a  pity,  too,  for  the 
latter  are  despised  by  them,  and  denounced  as  heretics.  But  why 
heresy  should  be  invested  with  such  fascinations  of  candor,  chris- 
tian charity,  and  purity  of  life,  while  what  is  termed  truth,  is  often 
found  associated  with  moroseness  and  intolerance,  is,  dear  parents, 
a  sad  puzzle  to  Your  affectionate  daughter,  Alice." 

I  must  inform  you,  reader,  that  the  latter  member  of  the  above 
alternative  expresses  the  truth.  Alice's  co-religionists  on  the 
POINT  are,  I  suspect,  as  good  as  the  same  class  in  Connecticut,  oj 
any  where  else ;  but  the  mind  of  our  heroine  had  undergone  a 
gradual  change — her  partialities  were  in  some  degree  removed,  and 
her  perceptions  were  in  consequence  less  clouded.  She  now  saw 
many  things  in  the  conduct  of  those  denominated  saints,  which 
shocked  her  ideas  of  propriety,  and  led  her  to  inquire  within  her- 
self, "  Is  it  possible  that  Connecticut  christians  would  act  thus]'' 
Simple  hearted  girl !  she  will  find  before  she  dies  that  evil  princi- 
ples of  religion,  in  all  climes  alike,  exert  an  evil  moral  influence 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Well,  a  month  has  elapsed  since  the  epistle  was  written  which 
occupies  so  much  of  the  foregoing  chapter :    as  the  humble 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  15 

chronicler  of  events  in  which  our  heroine  is  concerned,  I  must 
record  what  has  transpired  within  the  time ;  especially  as  the 
material  required  for  the  completion  of  onr  history  is  to  be  drawn 
principally  from  the  incidents  of  that  month. 

Be  it  known,  then,  that  in  the  early  part  of  it,  the  good  folk  on 
THE  POINT  held  a  religious  meeting  of  twelve  days'  continuance  : 
Alice  attended  it  throughout,  suspending  her  school  for  the  pur- 
pose, a  usual  thing  on  such  occasions — not  with  regard  to  schools 
merely,  but  also  to  most  of  the  ordinary  operations  of  life — and 
whilst  the  class  of  religionists  who  have  recourse  to  this  measure 
(evidently  for  sectarian  ends,)  affect  to  be  horror-stricken  at  the 
idea  of  being  employed  in  secular  pursuits  on  the  sabbath,  they  at 
the  same  time  regard  the  command,  "  six  days  shalt  thou  labor," 
with  about  as  much  respect  as  though  it  had  emanated  from  the 
Spartan  law-giver.     So  much  for  puritanic  consistency. 

Alice  had  fresh  occasions,  during  this  meeting,  for  observing 
how  much  a  comparison  between  the  people  of  her  own  church, 
and  those  of  Universalia,  resulted  in  favor  of  the  latter.  Old  Mrs. 
Matthews,  a  resident  on  the  point,  with  whom  she  tarried  during 
the  twelve  days,  was  of  the  latter  class  ;  she  rendered  our  heroine 
every  friendly  attention,  and  afforded  her  every  facility  in  her 
power  for  attending  upon  all  the  services.  She  even  accompanied 
her,  when  she  could  do  so  consistently  with  her  domestic  duties, 
although,  in  carrying  her  civility  so  far,  she  subjected  herself  to 
the  necessity  of  frequently  hearing  the  doctrines  she  cherished, 
together  with  the  believers  in  them,  made  the  subjects  of  violent 
invective  and  misrepresentation.  "  Never  mind  it,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Matthews,"  Alice  would  say  on  their  way  from  church,  "  I  cannot 
think  our  preachers  in  Connecticut  would  thus  decry  their  chris- 
tian neighbors  without  the  slightest  reason  or  provocation."  "  Nor 
would  they  here,"  the  old  lady  would  calmly  reply,  "if  they 
deemed  that  their  own  faith,  or  morals,  would  endure  a  candid 
comparison  with  those  of  the  people  they  denounce." 

Mrs.  Matthews  had  a  hired  girl,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
church  on  the  point,  and  quite  a  zealot  too  in  that  way  :  had  she 
possessed  as  much  brain  as  piety  it  would  have  been  well  enough 
with  her  ;  but,  as  it  was,  her  zeal  was  constantly  running  away 
with  the  little  sense  she  had  ;  although  a  very  poor  girl,  and  her 
mother  a  widow  in  extremely  indigent  circumstances,  she  could 


16  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

not  forego,  on  the  present  occasion,  the  attending  upon  every  ser- 
vice of  the  meeting  ;  she  entered  into  a  compact  with  the  old  lady, 
by  which  her  wages  were  to  be  suspended  for  the  twelve  days, 
during  which  she  was  to  have  the  privilege  of  attending  at  three 
preachings  and  two  prayer  meetings  each  day,  and  to  receive  her 
board  for  such  little  service  about  house  as  she  could  render  in  the 
intervals.  "  If  you  were  in  unison  with  me  in  religious  opinions, 
Bridget,"  said  old  Mrs.  Matthews,  very  mildly,  "I  should  feel  it 
my  duty  to  control  you  in  this  matter,  for  your  own  and  poor 
mother's  interests ;  as  it  is,  however,  it  would  not  fail,  were  I  to 
interfere,  to  be  ascribed  to  vr.v/orthy  motives." 

That  the  heart  of  Bridget  Bounce  (for  so  was  she  named)  was 
profited  by  these  religious  exercises,  is  possible ;  whether  her 
understanding  was  improved,  or  her  scanty  stock  of  information 
enlarged,  is  a  matter  of  much  doubt.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  last 
day's  services,  Bridget  returned  home  excessively  elated  in  mind. 
*'  Oh,  Mrs.  Matthews  !"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  do  wish  you  had  heard 

Mr.  F ,  to-day  !  If  he  ain't  a  dear  man  there  never  was  one  !" 

"  Why,  what  did  he  preach  about  1"  inquired  the  old  lady.  "  Oh, 
I  don't  know  exactly,"  answered  Bridget,  "  but  it  was  something 
about  getting  religion,  I  believe."  "  Can  you  tell  me  where  he 
found  his  text"?"  inquired  the  old  lady  again.  "  Lp,  su:i  !"  ex- 
claimed the  somewhat  puzzled  Miss  Bounce,  "  I  don't  mind  now 
whether  it  was  in  the  fore  eend  of  the  bible,  or  the  hind  eend,  but 
I  expect  it  was  somewhere  in  the  book  of  Paul."  "You  have 
the  advantage  of  better  eyes  than  mine,  Bridget,"  Mrs.  Matthews 
drily  retorted,  "  if  you  can  find  the  hook  of  Paul  in  the  biblp,  either 
in  the  beginning,  ending,  or  middle. 

"We  must  not  be  in  haste  to  censure  or  to  laugh  at  poor  Bridget 
Bounce  ;  in  returning  from  the  preaching  without  any  ideas  at  all 
she  did  quite  as  well  as  many  others  of  the  congreoaiinn,  whose 
pretensions  were  much  higher,  and  better  than  though  she  hnd  care- 
fully hoarded,  without  understanding,  all  the  humdrum  spirituali- 
ties that  were  sawed  out  on  the  occasion  ;  for  the  sermons  usually 
delivered  at  such  times,  be  it  known,  are  among  the  silliest  of  all 
the  silly  offspring  of  the  human  brain,  (provided,  always,  that 
hrain  be  necessary  to  their  production,)  and  are  as  innocent  of  any 
thing  resembling  sense,  as  the  preaching  of  the  Savior  was  wont 
to  be  of  any  thing  resembling  them.    I  will  sustain  the  truth  of 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  17 

these  remarks,  by  presenting  outlines  of  some  that  were  deemed 
the  best  which  were  delivered  during  this  meeting. 

Mr.  M took  for  his  text,  "  Take  ye  away  the  stone."     It  is 

found  in  the  account  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus.  The  preacher 
alluded  but  little  to  the  history ;  but  proceeded  to  assume  as  the 
spiritual  teaching  of  the  text,  (1)  That  the  unconverted  are  mo- 
rally dead  and  buried,  and  as  incapable  of  any  thing  good  as  is  a 
literally  deceased  person  of  exerting  his  physical  powers.  (2)  That 
there  are  certain  obstacles  in  God's  way,  which  prevent  his  calling 
these  dead  sinners  to  life  :  these  are  the  stone  upon  the  mouth  of 
the  sepulchre,  which  christians  are  called  upon  to  remove.  (3)  It 
was  sagaciously  hinted,  that  if  the  friends  of  Lazarus  had  refused 
to  take  away  the  stone,  in  the  case  under  notice,  that  Christ  could 
not  have  called  him  to  life ;  and,  from  analogy,  it  was  supposed, 
that  if  when  God  proposes  to  work  by  his  spirit  for  the  renovation 
of  dead  sinners,  the  saints  refuse  to  co-operate,  and  prepare  his 
way,  the  work  of  Jehovah  cannot  go  on.     Such  was  the  sum  of  Mr. 

M 's  discourse,  and  the  burthen  of  the  several  prayers  put  up 

at  the  close,  was,  *'  Oh  Lord  !  poor  sinners  are  dead  and  in  their 
graves  around  us — thou  awaitestto  awake  them  to  spiritual  life — 
but  requirest  in  this  solemn  business  the  co-operation  of  thy  peo- 
ple. Oh,  help  us  then  to  take  away  the  stone,  that  they  may  not 
remain  dead  to  all  eternity  through  our  neglect." 

Mr.  B preached  from  the  words,  "  Their  feet  shall  slide  in 

due  time,'"  from  which  he  assumed,  (1)  That  God  has  a  set  time 
from  eternity  for  all  the  work  he  performs,  (inclusive  of  the  saving 
or  damning  of  sinners,)  and,  therefore,  (2)  It  must  not  be  pre- 
sumed from  the  fact  that  sinners,  long  in  rebellion,  are  yet  out  of 
hell,  that  God's  mercy  will  always  endure  toward  them,  for  "  their 
feet  shall  slide  in  due  time."  (3)  "  It  might  be,"  the  preacher 
remarked,  "  that  God  had  appointed  the  close  of  that  very  meeting 
as  the  time  when  the  feet  of  many  of  the  congregation,  still  re- 
maining hardened,  should  slide  into  unending  burnings.  They  were 
therefore  solemnly  admonished  to  submit  without  delay,  and 
avert  this  dreadful  doom."    Avert  a  doom  appointed  from  eternity  ! 

Mr.  A chose  the  following  words  :  "  For  ye  know  that  af- 
terward, when  he  would  have  received  the  blessing,  he  was  rejected, 
and  found  no  place  for  repentance,  though  he  sought  it  carefully 
with  tears.''''    There  is  allusion  here  to  the  history  of  Jacob  and 

Vol.  I.— b  2 


18  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Esau.  The  latter,  "when  it  was  too  late,  indulged  in  unavailing 
regrets  at  having  sold  his  birth-right,  and  implored  his  father,  in 
the  most  moving  manner,  to  bless  him  in  such  terms  of  benediction 
as  he  could,  consistently  with  what  he  had  already  invoked  upon 
the  head  of  his  brother  Jacob ;  the  poor  old  father  was  much 
moved  for  his  unfortunate  son,  and  most  fervently  complied  with 
his  desire.  The  preacher,  however,  disregarded  all  the  analogies 
in  the  case,  and  assumed  from  his  text,  (1)  That  each  sinner  has 
a  certain  term  of  time  allotted  him,  within  which  he  may  secure 
the  salvation  of  his  soul,  (2)  If  he  fail  to  improve  this  space,  no 
future  opportunities  for  this  great  business  will  be  afforded  him ; 
"  the  divine  wrath  will  kindle,  and  blaze  against  him  to  all  eter- 
nity— ^he  will  cry  out  from  the  depths  of  his  wretchedness  in  hell, 
in  order  to  move  God  to  compassion,  but  all  in  vain — he  will  find 
no  place  for  repentance  in  the  divine  mind — (there  was  in  Isaac's, 
however !)— no  pity — no  relentance  there  :  the  forked  lightnings 
of  Almighty  anger  shall  scath  and  blast  the  sinner  with  every 
stroke."  Had  it  been  the  preacher's  object  to  depict  his  Maker's 
character  in  the  most  repulsive  colors,  he  could  not  have  suc- 
ceeded in  that  business  better  than  he  did.  The  mind  instinct- 
irely  recoiled  with  loathing  from  the  contemplation  of  a  being, 
clothed  with  almighty  power,  and  exerting  it  for  the  infliction  of 
the  most  horrid  torments  upon  impotent  worms. 

Mr.  S ,  who  preached  the  next  sermon  in  course,  evidently 

thought  that  the  chords  of  horror  had  been  so  often  and  so  vio- 
lently struck  during  the  meeting,  that  they  had  nearly  lost  their 
power  to  vibrate ;  he  therefore  touched  an  opposite  note.  He  read 
for  his  text,  "  Is  there  no  halm  in  Gilead  ?"  His  prayer  also,  and 
the  hymns  he  selected,  were  in  the  same  strain.     He  began  with 

"  Sinners,  will  you  scorn  the  message, 

Sent  in  mercy  from  above  ] 

Every  sentence,  oh,  how  tender  I 

Every  line  is  full  of  love. 

Listen  to  it — 

Every  line  is  full  of  love.'* 

"  Is  it  so  V  mentally  inquired  our  heroine,  whose  orthodoxy 
by  this  time,  (truth  must  be  told,)  had  begun  to  stagger  under  the 
load  of  nauseous  and  contradictory  stuft'  to  which,  for  several  days 
in  succession,  she  had  been  listening.    *'  Is  it  then  the  fact,  that 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  19 

every  line  in  the  message  from  heaven  to  man,  is  full  of  love? 
Then,  indeed,  have  I  not  heard  one  line  of  this  message  since  this 
meeting  began,  until  this  moment !  for  all  here  has  been  wrath — 
vengeance — damnation — horror — malediction !  What  am  I  to  think 
of  all  this?" 

Last  of  all,  arose  Mr.  F ,  the  great,  the  notorious  Mr.  F <, 

who  was  kept  to  the  last  as  a  sort  of  force  in  reserve,  that  when 
the  congregation  had  become  fatigued  in  body  and  mind — their 
spirits  jaded — their  nervous  systems  morbidly  excitable — he  might 
then  strike  a  decisive  blow,  and   secure  an   easy  victory.     Mr. 

F rolled  his  large  eyes  over  the  audience  for  some  time  in 

silence,  affecting  to  peruse  every  countenance,  in  order,  it  would 
seem,  that  he  might  estimate  the  degree  of  resistance  that  still 
remained  to  be  overcome.  At  length,  assuming  a  stern  aspect, 
and  modulating  his  voice  to  a  tone  of  hoarse  and  triumphant  bit- 
terness, he  announced  his  text  from  Proverbs — "  The  scorner  shall 
scorn  alone.''''  My  pen,  thou  art  a  feeble  thing ;  I  will  not  trust 
thee  in  the  attempt  to  describe  the  harangue  that  followed — the 
task  surpasses  thy  powers.  I  can  only  say,  that  from  beginning 
to  ending,  it  was  as  disgusting  and  horrid  a  melange  as  the  alpha- 
bet of  the  English,  or  any  other  tongue,  was  ever  combined  to 
form.  His  soul  revelled  in  the  infernal  pictures  which  his  fancy 
drew :  he  completely  personated  the  deity  of  his  own  descrip- 
tions ;  his  countenance,  voice,  attitudes,  all  evinced,  that,  for  the 
time,  he  imagined  himself  the  almighty  avenger  of  human  crime  : 
and  with  what  eagerness  did  his  ears  drink  in  the  groans  and 
shrieks  of  suiFering  spirits,  from  his  ideal  abyss  of  wrath  !  "  Ye 
shall  scorn  alone  /"  he  tauntingly  responded  again  and  again,  as  he 
imitated  these  cries  with  his  own  hoarse  tones,  and  fancied  them 
realities.  "  Water !  water !  for  my  burning  tongue  !  !"  "  Ah  !  ye 
wretched  sinners  !  where  now  are  your  insulting  scoflfs  at  God's 
people?  You  are  each  too  much  occupied  with  your  individual 
agonies,  I  trow,  to  unite  longer  in  this  business ;  and  now  to  all 
eternity  you  must  ■  scorn  alone  /'  " 

Such  was  the  closing  exercise  of  this  twelve-days'  meeting — 
such  the  sermon  that  had  wrought  so  powerfully  upon  poor  Brid- 
get Bounce,  which  was  "  something  about  getting  religion,"  she 
believed^  and  the  text  for  which  was  found,  she  expected^  "  some- 
where in  the  book  of  Paul !" 


20  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALTSM. 


CHAPTER  V. 

How  much  of  happiness,  hope,  intellect,  has  been  wrecked 
beyond  repair,  and  how  much  of  family  and  social  discord  has 
been  engendered,  by  extravagant  and  fanatical  proceedings,  bear- 
ing the  name  of  religious  worship,  the  omniscient  God  alone  is 
capable  of  determining  :  a  few  local  details  only  fall  within  the 
range  of  mortal  ken.  I  have  not  taken  it  upon  me  to  ascertain  the 
result  of  the  operations  on  the  point — I  know,  however,  that  a  lad 
of  very  bright  promise,  in  his  16th  year,  a  clerk  and  chief  agent 
in  the  employ  of  an  eminent  member  of  the  bench  in  that  county, 
was  converted  by  their  means  into  a  maniac  for  life.  I  also  know 
that  the  meeting  utterly  failed  of  effecting  the  object  for  which  it 
was  gotten  up  ;  that  on  the  contrary,  it  even  had  a  reaction  against 
it,  as  might  have  been  foreseen  by  the  agents  in  the  business, 
had  not  the  adage,  "  whom  the  gods  purpose  to  destroy,  they  first 
make  mad,"  had  some  kind  of  verification  in  their  case. 

The  public  there  had  been  advertised  that  a  traveling  advocate 
of  the  universal  love  of  heaven  would  preach  in  their  academy  on 
the  evening  of  the  day  which  was  to  close  the  long  meeting.  The 
famous  Mr.  F adverted  to  this  fact  in  his  sermon  in  the  morn- 
ing, with  ineffable  contempt ;  he  cautioned  his  people  at  the  peril 
of  their  souls  against  hearing  the  stranger,  and  ended  his  notice 
of  him  by  very  charitably  assigning  him  a  final  doom  amongst 
those  who  "  shall  scorn  alone.^^  This  very  allusion  to  the  stranger, 
induced  one  of  his  hearers,  a  transient  sojourner  on  the  point,  to 
resolve,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  on  hearing  this  new  doctrine 
for  himself;  not,  however,  with  the  remotest  intention  of  believing 
a  word  of  it — but  in  this  he  was  greatly  and  agreeably  disap- 
pointed, for  at  the  close  of  the  sermon,  which  was  nowise  remarka- 
ble for  talent,  either  in  the  composition  or  delivery,  but  was 
somewhat  so  for  an  unaffected  simplicity  of  arrangement  and 
diction,  he  arose  before  all  present  and  avowed  himself  a  convert 
to  its  doctrine,  declaring  that  he  had  never  before  heard  preaching 
which  so  came  home  to  his  understanding,  and  carried  conviction 
to  his  judgment,  as  did  that. 

Poor  Waters !  he  soon  experienced  that  he  had  pushed  out  his 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  21 

skiff  on  a  troubled  sea.  Supposing  that  all  might  be  convinced 
by  the  evidence  which  had  satisfied  his  own  mind,  he  began  zeal- 
ously to  advocate  his  new  faith.  Ha,  ha!  he  found  very  few 
disposed  to  even  hear  him !  not  even  to  hear  him  quote  from  the 
bible !  and  of  those  too  whom  he  had  often  heard  confess  them- 
selves as  "poor,  erring  mortals,"  and  with  much  affected  humilia- 
tion, pray  that  God  would  "  lead  the  blind  by  a  way  that  they  knew 
not,"  and  "  set  their  feet  in  the  paths  of  truth."  His  own  brother, 
a  deacon  of  the  church,  to  visit  whom  he  had  traveled  some  hun- 
dreds of  miles,  actually  denied  him  the  hospitalities  of  his  house, 
for  the  sin  of  having  therein  given  utterance  to  his  newly  acquired 
views,  and  he  was  therefore  fain  to  take  up  his  lodgings  at  one  of 
the  public  inns  of  the  place  !  Even  such  is  but  too  frequently  the 
triumph,  which  the  dark  spirit  of  human  creeds  achieves  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  over  the  heaven-born  spirit  of  charity. 

We  mortals,  and  those  of  us  too  who  term  ourselves  christians, 
are  very  modest  and  unpretending  beings,  very  ;  we  bow  our- 
selves humbly  down  before  the  throne  of  heaven,  owning  that 
W3  are  blind  and  impotent,  and  most  devoutly  imploring  superior 
guidance;  when,  should  the  Being  we  supplicate  vouchsafe  an 
answer  to  our  petitions,  we  would  spurn  his  instructions  with 
scorn  if  they  accorded  not  with  our  preconceived  opinions. 

A  few  days  after  our  heroine  had  resumed  her  school  in  Univer- 
salia,  a  note  was  brought  her,  by  a  little  girl,  a  daughter  of  one  of 
the  few  families  in  the  place  who  held  a  different  religious  faith 
from  that  which  generally  prevailed  there.  The  note  set  forth, 
^  that,  as  the  universalists  were  to  hold  an  association  in  the  church, 
on  the  Wednesday  and  Thursday  evening,  and  as  it  was  under- 
stood that  Miss  Alice  purposed  attending  the  religious  services 
on  the  occasion,  this  was  to  apprise  her  that  the  writer,  as  one  of 
her  employers,  would  not  consent  that  the  school  should  be  sus- 
pended for  those  two  days.  *  *  <*  For  the  yuniversalers,"  (so 
ran  the  scrawl,)  "  havn't  no  religion  in  no  shape  nor  fashon  no 
how,  and  shudent  ought  to  be  kowntenansed  by  the  peepal  of 
God,  i  was  willin  yu  shud  tend  the  meetin  on  the  pint,  all  tho  im 
no  more  a  kalwinite  than  nothin  at  all,  but  the  kalwins  beleev  in 
bein  born  agin,  which  i  doo  too,  and  i  kan  kownte  Nanse  them, 
bekase  they  may  be  will  see  like  us  sum  day.  So  no  more  at 
present.  dolly  Trowler." 


22  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

"  A  pretty  specimen,  this,"  thought  Alice,  "  of  the  ignorance 
and  intolerance  in  religion,  with  which  churches  that  take  a  high 
stand  for  sanctity  of  character,  quite  sufficiently  abound  !  And  I 
more  than  suspect  that  the  root  of  all  this  uncharitableness  lies  in 
the  doctrinal  principles  on  which  these  churches  are  based." — 
Alice  was  right— but  coming  from  her,  reared  as  she  had  been,  in 
fanaticism,  it  was  a  large  and  serious  concession.  Facts,  how- 
ever, abundantly  justified  it.  She  could  not  but  observe,  that 
under  much  exterior  devoutness,  and  connected  with  much  scru- 
pulosity in  the  observance  of  times  and  ordinances,  there  was  in 
the  people  of  her  faith  a  too  general  absence  of  the  more  substan- 
tial and  fundamental  virtues  of  religion.  She  could  no  longer 
think  that  these  evil  fruits  of  a  bad  faith  were  local,  with  regard  to 
the  persons  exhibiting  them,  for  a  very  recent  letter  from  Connecti- 
cut, written  at  the  request  of  her  parents  by  their  minister,  con- 
vinced her  that  there  also  a  gloomy  theology  generated  in  its  pos- 
sessors a  spirit  like  itself.  The  letter  referred  to,  appeared  to  have 
been  despatched  in  great  haste,  and  expressed  very  great  solicitude, 
which  had,  it  seems,  been  awakened  on  her  behalf  by  the  perusal 
of  the  one  she  had  written.  "  I  was  immediately  aware,"  so  it  ran, 
*'  though  your  parents  were  not,  that  your  immortal  soul  was  in 
the  utmost  danger,  from  the  fact  that  you  had  most  unfortunately 
fallen  in  with  a  community  of  universaiists,  a  people  more  to  be 
avoided  than  deists  or  atheists,  because  they  affect  to  found  their 
faith  on  the  scriptures,  and  possess  a  fatal  talent  for  giving  a  plau- 
sible face  to  their  impious  and  blasphemous  tenets  ;  I,  therefore, 
in  the  name  of  your  parents,  and  in  consideration  of  your  own 
precious  eternal  interests,  solemnly  charge  you  to  shun  them,  as 
you  would  the  pit  of  perdition  !  You  talk  of  their  social  and  moral 
virtues;  by  as  much  as  they  seem  to  possess  these,  are  they  the 
more  to  be  dreaded,  for  even  the  arch  fiend  can,  when  it  suits  his 
purpose,  '  transform  himself  into  an  angel  of  light.'  You  must 
therefore  not  take  them  for  what  they  seem  to  be,  but  for  what  in 
fact  they  are,  enemies  to  God,  and  to  the  souls  of  men.  Their 
doctrine  is  the  siren's  song:  it  lulls  the  soul,  by  its  bewitching 
melody,  into  a  slumber  from  which  many  thousands  of  its  votaries, 
it  is  to  be  feared,  have  been  awaked  at  last  by  the  fires  that  never 
shall  be  quenched.  It  may  do  to  live  by,  but  to  persons  of  that 
class,  the  language  of  the  poet  will  apply  with  peculiar  truth. 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  23 

*  Fools  men  may  live,  but  fools  they  seldom  die.' 

"  It  is  rarely  known  that  men  die  universalists.  I  hope  you  will 
pardon  the  freedom  of  this  advice,  and  believe  me  to  be  your  sincere 
well  wisher  for  time  and  eternity.  Zaccheus  Fearon." 

To  this  letter  several  postscripts  were  appended  by  different 
members  of  the  family,  with  whom  it  had  been  left  unsealed  for 
that  purpose.  I  will  here  insert  but  one  of  these,  from  our  hero- 
ine's youngest  sister,  an  arch  and  playful  girl ;  it  is  as  follows  : 

"P.  S.  Who  the  mischief  are  these  universalists  of  whom 
parson  Fearon  speaks  "?  do  they  look  like  folk,  Alice  1  We  have 
prayers  put  up  in  our  church  for  all  sorts  of  heathen ;  Mahomet- 
ans, Hottentots,  and  the  like ;  but  I  never  heard  universalists 
prayed  for  yet,  therefore  I  think  their  chance  for  heaven  is  very 
slim,  don't  you,  Alice  ?  If  you  should  ever  leave  our  church,  do 
turn  Pagan,  for  every  spare  rag  and  rye-straw  about  here  is  being 
turned  into  money,  to  pay  the  way  for  their  salvation.  So  no  more 
at  present,  from  one  who  never  saw  your  soul,  but  loves  your 
body  dreadful  well.  Charity  Sherwood." 

In  all  respects  Alice  admired  the  inhabitants  of  Universalia,  with 
the  exception  that  they  were  less  serious  and  devout  in  their  gene- 
ral demeanor  than  comported  with  her  ideas  of  piety ;  she  remarked 
upon  this  defect  to  a  very  intimate  companion  of  hers  (the  taller 
of  the  two  young  ladies  described  in  chapters.)  and  inquired  how 
she  would  account  for  it.  "  Simply,  my  dear  Alice,"  was  the 
answer,  "  by  considering  the  true  nature  and  ends  of  the  religion 
of  Christ.  Does  it  not  communicate  glad  tidings  1  and  is  it  not 
in  the  nature  of  things  for  these  to  infuse  joy  into  the  heart  1  and 
when  the  spirit  is  joyful,  will  not  the  countenance  be  bathed  in  its 
light  1  Why,  I  have  seen  persons  in  the  act  of  uniting  themselves 
to  chnirches  termed  christian,  and  the  forms  of  induction  were  of 
so  sombre  a  character,  that  by  the  time  they  were  gone  through 
with,  the  subjects,  in  look  and  bearing,  resembled  culprits  who 
had  been  consigned  over  to  the  executioner.  Surely,  they  or  I 
greatly  mistake  the  character  of  this  religion :  I  identify  it  with 
all  that  is  beautiful  and  happifying  in  morals — all  that  is  mag- 
nanimous in  action.  I  connect  with  it  no  hollow  and  driveling 
affectation  of  self-abasement,  for  the  office  of  Christianity  is  to 


24  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

elevate  man — not  to  trample  down  his  spirit,  his  dignity,  and  his 

hopes,  and" "  You  are  preaching  again,  my  dear  J ," 

interrupted  Alice,  "  so  I  must  call  you  down  to  the  level  of  ordi- 
nary conversation.  Of  one  thing  I  am  satisfied  in  regard  to  your 
religion,  Mr.  Fearon's  declaration  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding ; 
il  tvill  do  to  die  by — for  to  that  fact  I  have  witnessed  several 
examples  since  I  have  sojourned  with  you  here."  "  I  will  furnish 
you  with  the  account  of  another,  and  very  striking  one,"  said  Miss 

J .     "  It  is  contained  in  a  letter  from  a  young  minister  in  our 

connection  to  my  uncle." 

She  took  the  letter  from  her  scrip,  and  read  the  account  as 
follows:  *' I  was  last  week  riding  in  fulfilment  of  a  round  of 
appointments,  when  I  met  a  young  man  and  women  in  a  dearborn, 
with  a  coffin  between  them,  which,  on  our  stopping  to  converse, 
they  informed  me  contained  the  corpse  of  a  sister  of  theirs,  in  her 
19th  year,  who  had  deceased  at  the  house  of  another  sister  in  Mt. 
Pleasant,  and  they  were  taking  the  corpse  to  inter  it  in  the  family 
burial  place.  '  Could  you  not  officiate  on  the  occasion  V  they 
inquired.  I  informed  them  it  was  not  possible,  and  inquired 
how  it  happened  that  /was  applied  to?  when  I  had  always  un- 
derstood the  young  woman  to  be  of  a  very  different  faith.  'So 
she  was  till  within  a  month  or  two  of  her  death,'  was  the  reply, 
*and  it  grieved  her  sister,  in  whose  house  she  died,  very  much, 
that  she  should  adopt  your  faith  at  so  critical  a  lime.'  But  so  it 
was — one  minister  was  sent  for  after  another  by  her  friends,  to 
effect  a  change  in  her  views,  but  in  vain.  Reasoning  and  threat- 
ening were  equally  ineffectual.  '  I  have  been  living,'  she  would 
say  '  as  you  all  know,  in  daily  expectation  of  death  for  the 
last  five  months — I  have  in*  that  time  reflected  much  on  religion. 
Without  other  aid  than  that  of  my  bible,  I  have  settled  into 
my  present  persuasion — and  can  you  now  think  to  frighten  me 
out  of  opinions  which  have  been  adopted  under  such  circum- 
stances? It  cannot  be;  I  am  immoveably  made  up  to  die  in 
them !'  I  knew  there  was  a  little  society  of  universalists  in 
the  place  where  she  died,  composed  of  some  most  estimable 
persons,  and  I  inquired  whether  her  sister  was  so  hard-hearted 
as  not  to  send  for  one  of  them.  They  informed  me,  that,  en 
the  contrary,  the  poor  young  woman  was  kept  as  ignorant  as 
possible  of  the  very  existence  of  such  a  society.     Oh !   what 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  25 

would  I  not  have  given  to  have  been  but  one  hour  by  her  dying 
pillow  !  that  I  might  have  dilated  upon  that  impartial  and  un- 
bounded love,  to  whose  hands  in  that  trying  juncture  she  was 
so  calmly  entrusting  her  all  of  hope  and  happiness  for  ever.  But 
she  died  alone,  poor  girl !  Still  it  was  a  consolation  to  me  to 
know,  that  her  faiih  proved  equal  to  the  severe  trial  to  which  it 
was  subjected." — "  Let  me  interrupt  your  reading  here,"  said 
Alice ;  "  supposing  they  could  have  extorted  from  the  fears  of  the 
dying  girl  a  retraction  of  her  principles,  what  object  would  they 
have  gained  1  would  such  retraction,  wrung  from  her  weakness, 
have  atoned  for  errors  deliberately  adopted  in  the  strength  of  her 
faculties  T"  "  If,  by  any  means,"  answered  Miss  F — .,  "  they 
could  have  succeeded  in  wringing  from  her  a  denial  of  her  faith, 
they  would  thereby  have  accomplished  an  important  party  pur- 
pose ;  the  circumstance  would  have  been  loudly  trumpeted  forth 
as  an  evidence  that  '  the  Universalist  belief  will  not  do  to  die  hyJ* 
I  have  known  the  death-beds  of  the  young  and  inexperienced  to 
be  haunted  for  this  special  end !  Still,  we  may  adopt  a  more 
charitable  view  of  their  conduct :  their  efforts  may  have  been 
stimulated  by  the  weak  supposition  that  the  Creator  will  damn 
mortals  for  their  errors  of  opinion  !  a  supposition  which  does  great 
injustice  to  his  character,  unquestionably.  But  we  will  proceed 
with  the  letter"  *  *  *  "  At  a  conference  prayer- 
meeting  in  the  town,  on  the  sabbath  evening  following  this 
melancholy  incident,  a  self-conceited  sprig  of  divinity  arose,  and 
after  the  usual  groans  and  distortions  of  countenance,  delivered 
himself  to  the  following  effect.  '  My  friends,  the  young  woman 
who  was  interred  in  our  grave-yard  a  few  days  since,  and  who 
died  in  rebellion  against  God,  and  rejection  of  his  truth,  was  offer- 
ed a  conveyance  to  a  protracted  meeting  some  time  before  her 
decease,  but  she  refused  to  avail  of  it,  and  now — Oh  ! — Oh  ! — 
Oh  ! — she's  gone  where  protracted-meeting  opportunities  will  no 
more  be  afforded  her !' 

"  And  who,  think  you,  was  this  young  saint  1  what  were  his 
pretensions  ?  I  will  state  a  fact  from  which  you  may  judge.  He 
had  had  the  charge  of  the  school  in  that  district,  but  was  de- 
prived of  the  sarpe  about  a  month  before  the  delivery  of  the 
above  recorded  speech,  for  having  repeatedly  taken  indelicate 

Vol.  I.— C  No.  2. 


26  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

liberties  with  the  youug  females  entrusted  to  his  care  !     This  is 
an  unexaggerated  truth."  ****** 

"  I  have  known,"  said  our  heroine,  "just  such  lumpish  boobies 
in  Connecticut ;  and  they  could  deliver  themselves  quite  as  edi- 
fyingly  in  conference  prayer-meetings.  That  is  a  species  of 
meeting  to  which  I  was  accustomed  at  home  from  my  infancy ; 
and  for  as  long  back  as  I  can  remember.  Deacon  Snaffle  invariably 
took  the  lead  in  it.  I  doubt  if  he  once  failed  in  all  that  time,  to 
thank  the  Lord,  that '  while  others  who  are  as  good  by  nature  as 
we  are,  and  much  better  by  practice,  are  trying  the  a-w-e-ful  re- 
alities of  eternity,  we  continue  to  be  the  spa-red  monuments  of  thy 
dis-tin-guish-ing  grace  and  mercy.'  The  good  man's  voice  was 
so  cracked,  that  its  sounds  wonderfully  resembled  the  monotonous 
jingle  of  a  cow-bell.  I  have  often  checked  my  sister  Charity, 
for  nicknaming  him  '  Old  Brindle,'  which  was  the  name  of  a  fa- 
vourite bell-cow  of  ours.  '  Old  Brindle,'  she  would  say,  '  wants 
to  make  out  that  hell  contains  better  folk  than  we  are  !  I'm  sure 
then  it  can't  want  for  good  society.  But  what  are  we  to  think  of 
our  Creator's  justice,  if  he  does  indeed  damn  many,  who  are  much 
better  than  others  whom  he  saves  V  We  could  none  of  us  answer 
the  questions  of  the  playful  girl ;  so  we  all  united  in  chiding  her 
for  what  we  termed  her  wickedness  in  asking  them."  "  There  is 
an  admirable  stoicism,"  said  Miss  J — .  "  in  our  manner  of  talk- 
ing about  hell,  and  its  inhabitants.  Our  bigotry  damns  men 
very  liberally,  and  saves  them  very  sparingly.  Woe  to  us  all  if 
our  Creator  were  as  indifferent  to  our  eternal  interests  as  we  seem 
to  be  to  those  of  one  another !  My  grandfather,  the  old  squire, 
who,  like  most  old  people,  is  very  garrulous,  often  entertains  me 
with  the  Scotchman's  prayer  : 

'  Lord  bless  me  and  my  wife, 

My  son  John  and  his  wife ; 
Us  four, 

No  more,  my  Lord,  I  care  for  no  more.' " 


CHAPTER  VL 


Were  you  ever  present,  reader,  at  an  universalist  association  ? 
If  you  were,  you  need  not  that  I  describe  one  to  you ;  if  not,  ray 
advice  to  you  is  that  you  witness  one  for  yourself  as  soon  as  pos- 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  27 

sible ;  you  will  thereby  obtain  a  better  idea  of  such  a  meeting  than 
any  verbal  description  of  mine  can  give  you :  and,  moreover,  there 
are  shades  of  difference  in  the  same  thing  at  different  times,  and 
in  different  places.  You  must  therefore  be  content  for  the  present 
with  a  sketch  of  that  which  took  place  in  Universalia,  and  was 
the  one  referred  to  in  the  chaste  and  classical  note  of  Dolly 
Trowler. 

My  soul !  it  is  a  goodly  sight  to  see  some  fifteen  or  twenty 
hundred  persons  together,  with  eager  attention,  and  joy-beaming 
eyes,  listening  to  the  embassage  of  pardon  and  love  from  heaven ! 
No  sighs  of  anguish  are  heard  there,  I  trow ;  no  screams  of  ter- 
ror ;  far  other  music  greets  the  ear  than  that  arising  from  crushed 
hopes  and  broken  hearts ;  for  there  are  unfolded  the  riches  of  di- 
vine grace,  as  revealed  in  the  covenant  of  promise. 

"And  there,  in  strains  as  sweet  as  angels  use, 
The  gospel  whispers  peace." 

Among  the  hearers  on  that  occasion,  was  one  who  had  been 
confined  to  her  bed  for  many  years  from  a  paralytic  stroke  ;  yet 
even  she  had  been  brought  a  distance  of  forty  miles  to  enjoy  the 
happy  influences  of  this  glad  meeting.  The  wagon  containing 
the  couch  on  which  she  lay  was  drawn  close  against  the  church 
window,  which  was  left  open  in  order  that  the  accents  of  mercy 
from  the  preacher's  lips  might  reach  her  ears.  It  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible, methinks,  to  be  present  on  such  an  occasion  without  appre- 
ciating the  apostolic  exclamation,  "  How  beautiful  upon  the 
mountains  are  the  feet  of  him  that  bringeth  glad  tidings  ;  that 
publisheth  peace ;  that  saith  to  Zion,thy  God  liveth  ;  thatpreach- 
eth  good  tidings  of  good  !" 

The  intervals  between  the  times  of  worship  being  too  short  to 
admit  of  the  congregation  repairiag  to  their  respective  homes  for 
refreshment,  provisions,  in  basket  loads,  were  taken  to  the  place 
occupied  for  the  transaction  of  business,  (which  was  the 
school  house  afore-described,)  and  were  spread  out  on  a  common 
table,  to  which,  without  respect  to  rank,  or  condition,  or  opinions, 
all  that  would  come  might  come,  and  partake  freely,  "  without 
money  and  without  price."  Had  you  been  there,  reader,  you 
could  not,  for  the  life  of  yon,  have  distinguished  between  the 
clergy  and  the  laics.  All  were  on  a  parity ;  all  distinctions  of 
cast  were  lost  sight  of ;  all  individualities  were  merged  in  the 


28  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

mass :  and  as  one  family  all  rejoiced  together  in  a  common  and 
glorious  hope. 

Oh,  but  I  would  like  passing  well  to  be  able  to  give  you  the 
outline  of  the  sermons  delivered  at  this  meeting !  but  space  will 
not  permit.  The  general  themes  were  : — The  immeasurable  love 
of  God  as  manifested  to  man  through  Christ  Jesus  ;  the  per- 
fect wisdom  and  benevolence  of  all  the  divine  dispensations, 
throughout  all  space  and  all  duration ;  the  happiness  inevitably 
attendant  upon  virtue,  and  misery  upon  vice ;  man's  obligations 
TO  man,  and  to  God  ;  and  how  the  due  discharge  of  these  is  pro- 
motive of  public  and  private  good ;  the  resurrection  of  all  man- 
kind to  an  incorruptible,  immortal,  and  glorious  state ;  the  final 
extinction  of  death,  suffering,  sin ;  and  the  reconciliation  of  all 
intelligences  to  their  all-perfect  and  benevolent  Creator  ;  that  he 
may  be  all  in  all.  These  are  but  the  general  and  more  prominent 
topics ;  but  within  this  grand  outline  many  beautiful  particulars 
were  comprised.  I  am  tempted  to  give  you  a  sketch  of  the  closing 
discourse,  by  Mr.  S — . ;  from  it  you  may,  with  some  approach  to 
accuracy,  infer  the  general  character  of  the  whole. 

His  text  was  from  Matthew  6, 34  :  "  Take  therefore  no  thought 
for  the  morrow,  for  the  morrow  shall  take  thought  for  the  things 
of  itself — Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof."  "  It  seems 
the  scope  and  purpose  of  the  popular  theology,"  said  the  preacher, 
"  to  shed  a  frightful  gloom  upon  man's  vision  of  the  future  ;  to 
people  that  future  with  horrid  phantoms,  and  thereby  to  encum- 
ber him  with  perplexities  and  harassing  forecasts  of  evil;  as  if 
the  brief  path  from  the  cradle  to  death  were  not  already  sufficient- 
ly thorny  and  tearful.  The  advice  contained  in  the  text,  must 
have  been  designed  by  the  benevolent  Savior,  as  a  preventive  of 
this  superstitious  folly  on  the  part  of  weak  and  blind  humanity. 

"  If  man  is  indeed,"  continued  Mr.  S — .  "  ushered  into  the 
world  an  infant  demon,  full  of  malignant  hatred  toward  his 
Creator,  (of  whom  he  is  utterly  ignorant,  as  of  all  things  else,) 
and  a  subject  of  that  Creator's  wrath,  and  that  wrath  has  kindled 
for  his  spirit,  in  a  world  beyond  the  grave,  a  furnace  of  intense 
and  unquenchable  fires  ;  and  man  has  but  the  short  and  precari- 
ous term  of  his  mortal  life  allowed  him,  within  which  to  appease 
that  wrath  and  avoid  those  fires  ;  if  all  this  be  the  case,  then  in- 
deed is  his  utmost  solicitude  about  the  future  fully  justified ;  and 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  29 

with  all  his  agonising  sensibility  on  that  head,  he  falls  unspeaka- 
bly short  of  being  so  to  a  sufficient  degree.  But  then,  what  are 
we  to  think  of  the  Savior's  precept"?  Does  he  not  positively  in- 
terdict this  solicitude,  on  the  ground,  that  each  day  has  its  own 
sufficient  evil? 

"  Oh !"  exclaimed  Mr.  S — .  "  perish  for  ever  that  dark  and 
blighting  theology,  whose  business  it  seems  to  spread  additional 
thorns  in  the  pathway  of  life,  and  engender  distrusts  of  that  al- 
mighty love,  by  which  in  all  our  sufferings  and  dangers  we  are 
constantly  over-watched  !"  And  he  proceeded  to  point  out  the 
grounds  for  a  confidence  in  heaven  ;  for  a  cheerful  acquiescence 
in  all  the  divine  allotments  during  the  present,  and  a  suppression 
of  all  anxieties  about  the  future,  save  such  as  are  indispensable 
to  a  proper  regard  for  our  well-being,  and  for  that  of  the  creatures 
dependant  on  our  care  and  providence.  "  Man's  interests  beyond 
the  grave,"  said  he,  "  are  in  infinitely  better  hands  than  his  own ; 
in  his  whose  love  for  him  exceeds  that  of  a  mother's  for  her 
offspring  by  as  much  as  an  atom  is  exceeded  by  infinity ;  in  those 
hands  they  are  safe;  and  it  was  a  consideration  of  this  fact 
without  doubt  that  dictated  the  text  before  us,  interdicting  all 
distressing  solicitude  about  the  future. 

"  This  life,"  said  the  preacher,  "  hath  its  own  sufficient  and 
substantial  miseries,  and  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to  pry  into  an 
unseen  world — a  terra  incognita^  and  to  tantalise  ourselves  with 
those  unreal,  those  shadowy  horrors,  by  which  a  false  religion 
ever  seeks  to  bolster  up  its  pretensions. 

"  Nevertheless,"  continued  the  preacher,  "  though  I  admit 
that  this  world  is  sufficiently  sorrowful,  and,  to  a  certain  extent, 
properly  termed  a  '  vale  of  tears,'  yet  do  I  not  fully  sympathise  in 
those  sickly  repinings  at  its  miseries  and  vanities,  which  are  too 
commonly  drawled  out  from  the  pulpit,  for  the  world  is  the  work- 
manship of  God ;  and  it  is  correspondently  beautiful — beautiful 
surpassing  description.  Its  mountains  and  valleys,  hills  and 
plains,  rivulets,  rivers,  lakes,  oceans  ;  its  infinitely  diversified 
forms  and  colours ; — for  it  embraces  all  the  hues  of  the  rainbow 
variously  blended  and  combined  :  all  are  beautiful.  Then  the  sun 
pours  down  upon  it  a  flood  of  glory  by  day,  and  the  moon  mantles 
it  with  a  silver  radiancy  by  night;  and  oh!  is  not  the  canopy 
beautiful  when  it  is  scintillating  with  its  millions  of  stars  !   And 

You  I.— c  2 


30  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

there  is  much  of  moral  beauty  too  in  this  much-abused  world  of 
ours,  maugre  all  that  the  bigot,  and  the  cynical  philosopher  may 
say  to  the  contrary.  See,  for  instance,  maternal  love,  '  strong 
as  death,'  bending  over  the  cradle  of  infancy,  and  the  couch  of 
affliction;  see  hearts. united  by  mutual  affection  reciprocally  sus- 
taining each  other  through  long,  long  years  of  trial  and  suffering  : 

see in  short,  amidst  the  darker  aspects  of  human  life,  on  which 

gloomy  theologians  are  wont  to  dwell,  there  are  transpiring 
a  thousand  scenes  to  engage  the  approving  notice  of  all-seeing 
Heaven.     Yes,  this  is  a  beautiful  world. 

"  Yet  ought  we  to  remember,"  said  Mr.  S — .,  "  that  it  is  not 
our  abiding  home,  nor  does  it  afford  to  man's  unbounded  spirit 
sufficient  scope  for  the  expansion  of  its  powers  :  we  may  there- 
fore look  forward  to  a  world  beyond  the  precincts  of  time  and 
death ;  not  with  gloomy  forecasts  of  evil,  but  in  the  cheering 
hope  of  ere  long  dwelling  in  its  realms  of  sinless  purity,  and  of 
basking  forever  in  its  cloudless  light.  It  is  with  this  kind  pur- 
pose that  the  hand  of  religion  draws  aside  the  screen  which  con- 
ceals future  things  ;  that  from  the  prospects  of  a  better  world  we 
may  gather  encouragements  to  sustain  us  under  the  trials  and  sor- 
rows of  this  :  she  whispers  to  man's  doubting  heart  the  cordial 
assurance,  that  the  wings  of  divine  protection  are  ever  over  him ; 
amidst  the  vicissitudes  of  life  she  points  his  hopes  to  a  more  en- 
during and  changeless  existence  ;  and  she  dries  up  his  tears,  by 
referring  him  to  a  time  when  all  tears  shall  be  wiped,  and  cease 
to  flow  for  ever  and  forevermore." 

The  preacher  closed  his  discourse  with  some  excellent  obser- 
vations, tending  to  reconcile  man  to  his  condition  on  earth  while 
he  slays  here,  and  to  leave  it  with  cheerfulness  when  called  hence 
to  a  better  inheritance  ;  to  beget  in  his  bosom  sentiments  of  kind- 
ness and  good-will  toward  his  fellow  man ;  to  incite  him  to  a 
willing  discharge  of  all  his  obligations,  and  to  swell  his  heart 
with  love  and  gratitude  to  God,  for  the  revelations  of  his  love 
through  Jesus  Christ.  In  reference  to  the  forbearance  necessary 
to  be  exercised  toward  those  who  differ  from  us  in  religious  faith, 
he  used,  I  thought,  a  very  pretty  comparison. 

♦'  You  and  I,  my  brother,"  said  he,  "  take  our  stand  on  a  high 
eminence,  whence  we  can  command  a  wide  prospect  of  hills,  and 
plains,  and  forests,  and  streams,  stretching  away  in  the  distance 


ALICE   SHERWOOD.  31 

as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach  ;  the  sun  is  setting,  and  to  me  it  seems 
to  be  dipping  down  into  the  very  bosom  of  a  lake  in  the  distance. 
*  In  the  lake  ! !'  you  exclaim,  with  great  surprise  ;  *  why  I  can 
see  hills  far,  far  beyond ;  and  the  sun  seems  to  be  immediately 
over  them  !'  Now  the  difference  here,  my  brother,  must  be  owing 
to  the  superior  strength  of  your  visual  organs  over  mine,  enabling 
you  to  see  much  farther  than  I ;  and  I  should  be  almost  beside 
myself  to  quarrel  with  you  for  such  a  cause.  Well,  then,  you 
ought  to  bear  with  another,  if  to  his  mental  vision,  the  divine 
and  infinite  love — the  sun  of  the  moral  universe — seems  to  shed 
its  beams  upon  all  intelligences,  insomuch  that  not  one  can  ever 
get  beyond  its  vital  and  cheering  influences  ;  whilst  to  your  more 
restricted  perception  there  seem  to  be  millions  whom  the  light  of 
that  sun  will  never  touch,  and  millions  upon  millions  in  regard  to 
whom,  after  life's  brief  day,  it  will  set  to  rise  no  more,  leaving 
them  in  rayless  darkness  and  despair  for  ever  and  ever." 

I  can  assure  you,  reader,  that  whoever  was  an  uninterested 
auditor  during  the  services  of  this  association,  our  heroine  was 
not ;  her  ear  seemed  eagerly  to  drink  in  every  word  ;  she  had 
never  in  all  her  life  witnessed  religion  under  aspects  so  attractive ; 
it  seemed  to  her  that  the  prevalent  and  ardent  anticipations  of 
heavenly  bliss  had  brought  down  its  realities  to  earth.  "  The 
poet  may  here  be  quoted  with  truth  and  emphasis,"  thought  she, 

"  Every  sentence,  oh  how  tender ! 
Every  Une  is  full  of  love." 

As  the  meeting  was  about  to  close,  the  preachers,  who  were  now 
together  in  the  desk,  or  within  the  area  around  it,  united  their 
voices  with  the  choir  in  the  opposite  gallery,  in  singing  that 
beautiful  hymn, 

"  Rise,  my  soul,  and  stretch  thy  wings, 

Thy  better  portion  take  ;" 

and  every  heart  seemed  to  heave  with  a  pang  of  regret,  when  the 
parting  benediction  was  invoked. 

"  Well  Alice,"  archly  remarked  Miss  J—.,  as  they  walked 
arm  in  arm  to  her  father's  house,  "you  see  tbat  we  publicans  and 
sinners  engage,  occasionally,  in  the  worship  of  God  after  our 
heathenish  fashion ;  we  omit,  it  is  true,  what  many  seem  to  con- 
sider as  the  chief  essential  in  the  business,  viz  :  the  imagery  of 
a  dark  infernum,  with  its  myriads  of  lost  spirits,  groaning  to  the 


33  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

glory  of  God  from  beds  of  burning  coals.  But,  on  the  whole, 
and  bating  this  beautiful  item,  tell  me,  Alice,  how  did  you  like 
the  meeting  ?" 

Alice  made  no  response  save  by  pressing  the  arm  of  her  com- 
panion with  her  own,  with  an  emphasis  which  indicated  that  she 
was  in  no  mood  for  discourse,  but  rather  for  silent  communion 
with  her  own  thoughts ;  and  they,  accordingly,  prosecuted  the 
residue  of  the  short  walk  to  Miss  J — 's  paternal  residence  in 
silence. 

I  may  here  inform  the  reader  that  Miss  J —  lives  in  the  first 
house  above  the  humble  edifice  in  which  Alice  holds  her  school ; 
it  is  in  nearly  the  most  pleasant  part  of  the  valley  ;  to  the  west- 
ward may  be  seen,  at  some  distance  across  the  beautiful  plain, 
some  glimpses  of  the  Susquehanna,  meandering  like  a  broad 
riband  of  silver  through  the  lovely  landscape,  and  laughing  in 
the  sunbeams,  as  if  conscious  it  were  imparting  to  that  land- 
scape its  principal  charm.  On  the  east,  the  part  of  the  hill 
just  opposite,  is  somewhat  depressed,  and  marked  with  one  or 
two  slight  openings  or  defiles,  formed  probably  by  the  occasional 
rivulets  which  congregate  after  heavy  rains ;  it  is  also  somewhat 
rounded  from  the  same  cause,  and  presents  several  convex 
slopes,  with  narrow  passages  between,  which  are  smooth,  or  ap- 
pear so  in  the  distance,  and  covered  with  grass ;  these  give  to 
this  point  of  the  valley  a  very  picturesque  effect.  It  was  by 
one  of  these  passages  that  Alice  gained  the  position  on  the  hill- 
side, where  she  found  the  "  Old  Squire,"  (as  described  in  chapter 
3)  and  she  was  now  irresistibly  led  to  seek  the  same  spot,  that 
she  might  be  perfectly  alone,  and  once  more  feast  her  eyes  with 
the  prospect  to  be  obtained  from  that  eminence.  I  have  said  once 
more,  for  her  parents  had  by  letter  expressly  enjoined  her  instant 
return  to  Connecticut. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


"  Oh  !  for  an  angel's  harp !  and  an  angel's  skill  to  touch  its 
chords  and  awaken  its  harmonies !  for  human  language  falls 
immeasurably  short  of  themes  so  grand  and  extatic.  Hencefarth 
and  forever  I  abjure  all  impious  distrusts  of  my  almighty  Father's 


ALICE   SHERWOOD.  33 

love  !  I  shall  as  soon  believe  that  infinite  duration  can  be  exhaust- 
ed by  its  successive  flow  of  moments  or  of  ages,  as  that  the  in- 
finite ocean  of  divine  love  can  be  drained  by  its  ceaseless  expa- 
tiation  upon  the  innumerable  myriads  of  creatures  to  which  it  has 
given  existence.  Henceforth  as  I  walk  abroad,  I  shall  perceive 
in  everything  and  everywhere  its  all-pervading  presence,  its  all- 
beautifying  and  vitalizing  influences.  'Twill  sparkle  in  every 
star  of  night ;  'twill  scintillate  in  every  solar  ray ;  in  all  the 
voices  of  nature  I  shall  hear  its  music  ;  it  will  touch  with  balm 
the  wounds  of  my  heart  in  sorrow  and  bereavement ;  it  will  shed 
its  mild  light  on  the  darkness  of  adversity  :  and  in  the  strife  of 
the  passions,  and  amid  the  storms  and  alarms  of  life,  borrowing 
the  voice  of  its  once  embodied  and  crucified  representative  on 
earth;  it  will  say  "jomce,"  and  an  immediate  "calm"  shall 
succeed.  I  am — I  am  constrained  to  be — a  universalist,  and,  what- 
ever obloquy  may  attach  to  that  name,  such  for  the  future  will  I 
avow  myself,  for  life  and  death,  time,  and  eternity,  all  things, 
present  in  the  light  of  this  faith  a  new  and  beauteous  aspect." 

Call  this  rhapsody,  reader,  if  it  so  please  you,  it  is  the  lan- 
guage in  which  the  full  soul  of  our  heroine  vented  itself,  when 
she  had  been  for  some  minutes  seated  in  the  shade  of  the  clump 
of  sumachs  afore-noticed,  where  she  had  had  her  interview  with 
the  "  Old  Squire."  The  afternoon  was  most  lovely — the  atmos- 
phere pure  and  serene — and  the  wide-spread  panorama  before 
her  seemed  even  more  beauteous  than  before.  The  main  road 
through  the  bottom,  and  the  several  paths  diverging  from  it  in 
various  directions,  seemed  teeming  with  life — persons  on  foot,  on 
horseback,  in  carriages,  were  repairing  from  the  meeting  to 
their  several  homes  ;  here  and  there  stood  groups  of  friends  re- 
ciprocating adieus,  and  invitations  for  future  visits  :  it  was  in  a 
double  sense  a  moving  scene.  "Oh!"  continued  Alice,  as  she 
gazed  upon  it,  "  most  truly  said  Mr.  S — ,  '  this  is  a  beautiful 
world ;'  it  is  indeed  so  ;  and  more  especially  now  to  me,  since 
my  perceptions,  I  trust,  are  much  improved;  for  yonder  Nar- 
rows, as  they  are  termed,  both  in  name  and  nature  might  well 
represent  my  former  state  of  mind  ;  but  I  now  see  the  heavens, 
the  earth,  all  things,  to  be  mantled  with  the  smiles  of  almighty 
love,  and  every  living  creature  to  be  a  subject  of  his  benign  re- 
gards.  Yes,  I  am  quite  brought  into  a  new  faith,  new  hope,  new 


34  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

feelings ;  and  I  shrink  not  from  henceforth  bearing  the  despised 
name  corresponding  to  these  new  views." 

***  ##  ^  n^  ^ 

I  need  only  add,  that  the  above  resolution  has  been  faithfully- 
adhered  to  :  Alice  has  been  for  some  time  at  her  native  home,  in 
Connecticut,  where,  although  opposed  on  every  hand,  and  by 
those  too  whom  she  respects  and  loves,  she  unshrinkingly  avows 
herself  a  believer  in  the  plainly  scriptural  doctrine,  that '  The  Lord 
is  good  unto  all,  and  his  tender  mercy  is  over  all  his  works  ;'  and 
this  glorious  faith  is  a  principal  theme  in  the  epistolary  corres- 
pondence which  she  maintains  with  Miss  J — ,  her  intimate  and 
amiable  companion  while  a  sojourner  in  the  Pennsylvania  Valley. 
We  will  close  our  story  with  an  extract  from  a  recent  letter  of 
hers  to  this  young  lady,  from  which  the  reader  will  perceive,  that, 
at  whatever  sacrifice  to  her  private  interests,  Alice  is  bent  on 
maintaining  her  despised  faith  in  the  midst  of  its  most  violent, 
but  perhaps,  conscientious  opponents. 

*        *        *        *  "I  did  not  inform  you  that  in  returning 

to  my  native  home,  I  chose  the  longer  route  up  the  Susquehanna 
to  the  very  pleasant  village  of  Unadilla,  on  the  western  margin, 
and  just  above  the  mouth  of  a  lovely  river  of  the  same  name  : 
thence  across  to  the  Katskil  turnpike,  from  which  I  diverged  to 
Delhi,  a  beautiful  town  on  the  Delaware,  and  but  little  more  than 
a  score  of  miles  from  its  sources  :  thence  over  the  most  barren 
and  dreary  mountain  ranges  conceivable  to  Kingston  or  Sopus ; 
and  to  Roundout,  on  the  North  river,  where  the  Delaware  and 
Hudson  canal  terminates :  thence  across  to  Hyde  Park,  distin- 
guished for  its  elegant  country  seats ;  and  so  on  to  Poughkeepsie, 
Dover  Plains,  &c.  I  might  have  gone  by  the  shorter  way  of  the 
Great  Bend,  Coshecton,  and  Newburgh,  but  I  had  no  particular 
motives  for  haste,  and  merely  consulted  pleasantness. 

"  In  the  sitting-room  at  Roundout,  an  animated  conversation 
ensued  on  the  subject  of  religion.  A  young  universalist  minister 
being  there  on  a  professional  visit,  his  doctrine  became  the  topic 
of  discussion.  Of  course  I  was  an  interested  auditor.  My  atten- 
tion had  been  attracted  toward  an  intelligent  German  in  the  com- 
pany, by  the  peculiar  benevolence  of  his  sentiments.  Governor 
Shultz,  of  Pennsylvania,  had  pardoned  a  criminal  under  sentence 
of  death,  as  his  last  official  act.    All  the  company  (being  believers 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  35 

in  endless  wfe)  reprobated  the  ex-Governor  on  this  ground,  with 
the  exception  of  the  German,  who  bestowed  unqualified  praise 
upon  his  clemency ;  remarking,  that  '  if  forgiveness  he  a  crime, 
then  God  has  committed  more  of  it  than  any  other  being.''  Indeed 
all  he  said  was  so  much  in  the  spirit  of  him  who  told  the  sinful 
woman,  '  neither  do  I  condemn  thee — go  and  sin  no  more,'  that  I 
concluded  within  myself,  '  Surely  this  person  does  not  believe  in 
a  Deity  who  will  damn  his  creatures  to  an  eternity  of  misery  for 
their  sins  of  a  few  years ;  or  if  he  does,  his  dispositions  are  not 
conformed  to  those  of  that  Deity.' 

"  I  was  correct  in  regard  to  my  German  fellow-traveller ;  he 
had,  to  be  sure,  never  before  heard  of  the  Universalist  sect,  but 
when  informed  of  what  the  term  implied  his  eyes  sparkled  with 
delight,  and  especially  on  being  told  that  this  denomination  is  nu- 
merous and  rapidly  increasing  :  he  assured  us  that  all  benevolent 
literary  men,  whether  catholic  or  protestant,  were  secretly  of  this 
persuasion ;  and  although  the  most  of  them  did  not  choose  to  incur 
ecclesiastical  censure  by  openly  avowing  it,  yet  that  it  is  suffi- 
ciently intelligible  in  their  writings,  and  he  entertained  us  with 
very  numerous  quotations  which  fully  sustained  the  remark. 

"  If  the  fact  is  as  stated,  I  conceive  it  to  form  a  strong  consider- 
ation in  favor  of  the  truth  of  our  sentiments ;  but  then  I  reflected 
that  Cowper,  that  most  benevolent  of  all  poets,  was  a  rigid  Cal- 
vinist,  and,  therefore,  an  undoubted  exception  to  the  truth  of  the 
observation ;  and  yet,  upon  further  thought,  I  find  that  it  does  hold 
good  even  in  regard  to  him,  for  there  are  passages  in  his  Task 
which  show  that  from  his  better  nature  a  benign  light  occasional- 
ly flashed  upon  the  darkness  of  his  educational  creed ;  or,  in  other 
words,  that  his  kind  heart  often  dragged  per  force  his  head  (viti- 
ated by  false  religious  culture)  into  a  purer  and  manlier  train  of 
thinking  than  that  which  his  gloomy  creed  inspired.  Take  the 
following  sample. 

*  Thus  heavenward  all  things  tend,  for  all  was  once 
Perfect,  and  all  at  length  must  be  restored. 
So  God  hath  wisely  purposed,  who  would  else 
In  his  dishonor'd  works,  himself  endure 
Dishonor,  and  be  wrong'd  without  redress." 

"  The  mind  that  dictated  these  lines  could  not  possibly,  at  the 
time,  have  believed  that  Jehovah  will  be  eternally  dishonored  by 


86  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  total  and  irreparable  ruin  of  the  fairest  portion  of  his  work- 
manship. 

"  I  find,  indeed,  my  dear  J — ,  that  all  that  is  beautiful  in  senti- 
ment is  in  reality  connected  with  this  doctrine  ;  and  that  the  most 
sublime  and  admired  minds  have  indeed  in  every  nation  and  age, 
so  far  as  my  reading  extends,  been  more  or  less  illumined  by  it. 
Who  that  has  read  with  attention  the  works  of  Pope,  Addison, 
Goldsmith,  Akenside,  Thompson,  Gray,  Fenelon,  Schiller,  Goethe, 
and  others,  can  seriously  doubt  the  fact?  Would  that  the  minds 
of  my  aged  parents  could  be  open  to  perceive  its  truth  !  How 
serene  would  the  evening  of  their  existence  be,  if  the  divine  light 
of  this  faith  were  blended  with  the  beams  of  their  setting  sun  ! 

"  I  am  more  than  ever  convinced,  my  friend,  that  the  doctrine 
of  unending  misery,  in  the  proportion  in  which  it  is  sincerely  be- 
lieved, blunts  the  natural  sensibilities.  How  else  could  its  advo- 
cates remain  so  manifestly  indifferent  with  the  dreadful  prospect 
before  them,  that  countless  multitudes  of  human  beings  are  con- 
stantly drifting  on  the  tide  of  time  to  never-ceasing  burnings  1 
My  parents,  for  instance,  (and  they  are  to  the  full  as  kind  as 
parents  commonly  are,)  seem  to  have  quite  given  me  over  to 
eternal  reprobation  :  yet  they  appear  but  little  affected  by  this 
circumstance  !  I  ventured  to  ask  them  as  we  sat  around  the  fire  a 
few  evenings  since,  whether,  if  I  were  bound  to  a  stake  to  be 
burned  alive  in  their  presence,  they  would  not  be  unspeakably 
afflicted  by  the  event.  '  We  would,  undoubtedly,'  replied  my 
father,  '  but  spiritual  things  are  not  to  be  compared  with  natural ; 
our  carnal  attachments  will  have  ceased  when  we  reach  the  eter- 
nal world  ;  and  we  shall  not  retain  a  single  feeling  in  opposition 
to  the  will  of  God  ;  whether  that  will  be  to  damn  or  to  save.'  I 
was  strongly  tempted  to  respond,  that  except  the  divine  Being 
shall  undergo  as  great  a  change  as  we,  his  will  must  be,  as  it 
now  is,  to  '  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth.'  But  I  knew  that  to  reason  with  him  on  this  subject 
would  rather  tend  to  irritate  than  to  convince  him  :  and  I  therefore 
preferred  to  be  silent,  as  it  better  comported  with  the  respect  due 
to  the  parent  from  the  child. 

"  My  new  faith  subjects  me  to  numerous  petty  annoyances.  If 
I  attend  upon  preaching  in  any  of  the  churches,  I  am  sure  to  find 
a  part  of  the  sermon  pointed  against  myself;  and  the  heads  of 


ALICE  SHERWOOD.  37 

my  acquaintances  will  be  turned  around  in  order  to  see  how  I  am 
affected  by  it.  I  cannot  be  present  even  at  a  prayer  meeting  but 
the  several  supplicants  will  for  prayer  substitute  declamation  and 
argument  against  my  doctrine,  as  though  Jehovah  himself  needed 
to  be  convinced  of  its  falsity  !  Some  attempt  to  gain  me  over  to 
their  views  by  flattery ;  they  wonder  at  a  person  of  my  sense  and 
accomplishments  being  a  universalist.  Others  address  themselves 
to  my  interests ;  they  pretend  that  a  conformity  to  their  opinions 
is  indispensable,  in  order  to  one's  admittance  into  the  higher  cir- 
cles of  society ;  and  yet  these  same  persons  term  themselves  *  the 
despised  and  persecuted  followers  of  Jesus' ! 

"  Parson  Fearon  seriously  advised  me  the  other  day,  in  pre- 
sence of  my  mother  and  sister  Charity,  as  I  respected  myself, 
my  parents,  and  connexions,  and  as  1  prized  my  soul,  and  chris- 
tian fellowship  on  earth,  &c.  to  disavow  my  false  and  dangerous 
opinions.  '  Would  you  have  me  be  a  hypocrite,  Mr.  Fearon,' 
said  I,  '  for  such  I  should  certainly  be,  if,  for  any  motive,  I  should 
disavow  opinions  which  I  seriously  and  heartily  believe:  my 
opinions  may  give  way  before  sufficient  evidence  of  their  falsity, 
but  mere  persuasions  addressed  to  my  pride  or  self-love,  however 
they  may  bias  my  willf  can  surely  not  remove  the  convictions  of 
my  judgment.  But,'  continued  I,  after  a  little  pause,  and  (I  will 
confess  it)  with  the  view  of  bringing  him  out  plainly,  for  I  sus- 
pected that  to  gain  numbers  to  his  church  was  more  a  real  object 
with  him  (as  with  too  many  others)  than  to  win  souls  for  heaven, 
— *  what  would  you  think  if  I  were  to  unite  myself  to  the 
methodistsi' — 'I  should  think  you  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse,' 
said  he;  'you  had  better  remain  as  you  are,  Alice,  for  the  metho- 
dists  believe  in  being  a  saint  to-day  and  a  devil  to-morrow,  which 
is  flatly  contradictory  to  the  bible  doctrine  of  final  perseverance.' 
In  this  sentiment  my  father  (who  came  in  during  the  conversation) 
fully  united. 

A  few  days  subsequent  I  had  an  interview  with  the  methodist 
minister,  Mr.  Steiningstinger,  (rather  a  long  name,)  whose  opinion 
was,  that  to  go  over  from  the  universalist  to  the  calvinist  belief, 
was  'like  jumping  out  of  der  fire  into  der  frying-pan ;  for,  mine 
Got  in  heavens !  I  would  a  goot  teal  rader  pe  a  universalist  as 
pe  a  calvinist.'  The  singularity  is,  that  each  of  these  sectarists 
affects  to  believe  the  faith  of  the  other  at  least  safe  for  salvation, 

Vol.  I.— D 


38  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

while  they  hoth  agree  in  thinking  the  universalist  faith  unsafe  / 
and  yet  each,  rather  than  be  saved  in  the  faith  of  the  other,  would 
prefer  to  be  damned  in  that  of  universal  salvation  !  Such  at  least 
is  the  result  to  which  their  professions  are  reducible. 

"  I  assure  you,  my  dear  J — ,  that  my  faith  gathers  confirmation 
from  nearly  every  day's  observation  and  experience.  I  cannot 
tell  you  how  much  I  rejoice  and  thank  God  that  ever  I  was  a 
sojourner  in  your  beautiful  valley,  for  my  new  faith  is  a  talisman 
which  blends  a  hitherto  unknown  delight  with  every  scene  and 
incident  of  existence.  I  had  the  unspeakable  pleasure,  but  two 
days  ago,  of  so  establishing  its  truth  and  exhibiting  its  excellency 
to  a  neighboring  vt^oman,  whose  spirit  for  some  time  past  has 
been  fluttering  at  the  gates  of  death,  that  she  has  become  a  con- 
firmed and  rejoicing  subject  of  its  influence.  '  Oh  !'  she  exclaims, 
'  I  can  now  die  satisfied  ;  I  can  now  part  with  ray  husband  and 
children,  and  my  kind  neighbors  too,  in  the  confidence  of  meeting 
them  again  in  a  brighter  world  ;  there  the  sun  never  sets,  for  God 
is  that  sun,  and  all  intelligences  shall  bask  in  its  beams.  I  for- 
merly,' said  she,  '  often  surveyed  my  little  ones  with  an  anxious 
heart,  reflecting  that  they  were  about  to  be  left  in  a  world  of  sin  and 
temptation,  where  the  probability  was  strong  that  they  would  not 
all  escape  that  dark  and  dreadful  pit  of  irreparable  perdition 
which  1  conceived  to  be  yawning  beneath  their  feet ;  and  I  used 
to  ask  myself,  which  of  these — Oh  !  my  God !  the  thought  was 
full  of  agony — which  of  these  that  have  been  nourished  in  my 
bosom,  and  have  engaged  my  anxieties  by  night  and  by  day ;  over 
whose  cradles  I  have  watched  in  their  sickness  until  the  stars 
grew  dim  in  the  morning  light,  and  bright  and  dim  again — which 
of  these,  and  how  many,  shall  I  have  brought  up  for  endless  burn- 
ings ?  But  now — God  be  praised  for  ever  more ! — these  anxieties 
are  all  dispelled,  and  I  can  leave  them  with  Him  who  has  pledged 
his  truth  that  he  will  take  care  of  them ;  under  the  wings  of  his 
protection  they  are  more  secure  than  they  could  be  in  my  care." — 
Not  small  is  the  astonishment  of  the  good  people  about  here  that 
my  faith  should  thus  have  gained  a  trophy  within  the  very  shadows 
of  the  grave,  for  the  woman  described  is  very  near  her  end,  being 
in  the  last  stage  of  a  pulmonary  consumption. 

"My  playful  sister  Charity,  who  is  at  my  elbow,  says,  'tell 
Miss  J—  that  I  mean  to  come  in  a  year  or  two  and  see  what  they 


ALICE   SHERWOOD.  3^ 

can  do  with  me  in  her  pretty  valley;  for  being  a  rattle-brain,  I 
have  been  given  over  as  a  child  of  the  devil  from  my  infancy,  in- 
somuch that  I  feel  something  like  a  filial  attachment  for  the  old 
gentleman,  and  hope  there  will  be  a  favorable  turn  in  his  hard  for- 
tune some  day  or  other.  However,  I  am  willing  to  be  quits  with 
him  after  all,  if  there's  a  better  chance  for  me ;  for,  to  say  truth,  I 
am  tired  of  having  certain  pert  and  ignorant  misses  about  here, 
roll  their  eyes  and  pucker  up  their  faces  as  they  meet  me  on  the 
road  to  church,  regarding  me  as  infinitely  their  inferior,  because 
they  are  pleased  to  term  themselves  GodPs  children :  but  if  God 
esteems  them  above  me  it  is  more  than  their  neighbors  do.  Tell 
her,  too,'  she  continues,  '  that  I  am  much  obliged  to  her  for  making 
Alice  a  universalist;  for  she  too  is  now  a  child  of  the  devil,  and 
is  therefore  nearer  akin  to  me  than  formerly,  since  we  can  now 
both  claim  the  same  spiritual  as  well  as  natural  father.' 

"  Adieu,  my  dear  friend.  May  the  light  of  this  glorious  faith 
extend  to  the  farthest  bounds  of  intellectual  being — :that  wherever 
Jehovah  is  known  at  all,  he  may  be  known  and  felt  as  a  God  op 
LOVE.     So  sincerely  prays  Alice  sherwood." 


The  author  feels  it  incumbent  on  him  to  assure  the  reader,  that  all 
the  principal  incidents  in  the  above  story  are  true.  The  valley  itself  has 
a  real  existence,  and  is  faithfully  described  from  his  memory  of  the  scene. 
Alice  Sherwood  and  her  two  companions,  the  old  Squire,  Mrs.  Mathews, 
Bridget  Bounce,  Mr.  Waters,  and  the  other  dramatis  personx  of  the 
tale  are  true  characters.  He  states  this  fact,  in  order  that  the  story  may 
not  lose  its  proper  effect,  from  the  supposition  that  it  is  a  mere  figment 
of  the  imagination. 


PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 


PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS. 

We  are  about,  reader,  in  a  serious  and  candid  spirit  I  hope,  to 
examine  together  the  claims  and  pretensions  of  universalism,  pro 
and  con:  we  wish  to  be  honest  in  this  business,  do  we  not?  I 
do,  and  am  disposed  to  believe  that  you  do  also  ;  well  then,  let  us 
make  a  right  beginning,  since  much  depends  on  starting  aright, 
and  except  we  conduct  our  investigation  according  to  some  kind 
of  system  we  can  accomplish  but  little  to  advantage  ;  under  this 
persuasion  I  proceed  to  suggest  some  considerations,  which  in 
the  task  before  us  ought  to  be  kept  steadily  in  view. 

1.  You  will  admit  that  the  scriptures  cannot  support  two  oppo- 
site doctrines  as  true,  without  destroying  their  own  credibility ; 
you  will  also  admit  that  the  contrary  to  what  they  do  teach  as 
true  must  be  false ;  consequently,  if  in  a  single  instance  they 
sanction  the  notion  that  sin  and  misery  will  be  of  endless  dura- 
tion, it  must  follow  that  Universalism  is  untrue — for  universalism 
asserts  the  contrary.  Now  if  this  doctrine  stands  contradicted  by 
one  text  in  the  bible,  we  must  not  think  of  looking  up  other  texts 
for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  it — that  one  must  be  admitted  as 
proving  it  false.  See,  reader,  how  I  shorten  business  to  your  hand  ; 
you  have  now,  in  order  to  refute  the  doctrine  of  universal  salva- 
tion, no  need  to  furnish  a  multitude  of  texts,  one  will  do — only 
bring  one  that  is  plainly  to  the  purpose,  and  the  work  is  accom- 
plished. Do  you  fancy  that  the  passage  concerning  the  rich  man 
and  Lazarus  is  to  your  purpose?  or  that  concerning  the  unparnonable 
sin  1  or  those  that  relate  to  Christ's  second  coming  ?  very  well,  we 
shall  see  in  the  course  of  this  investigation,  and  if  they  are,  or  either 
of  them,  your  doctrine  is  then  established.  You,  of  course,  are 
willing  to  abide  by  this  rule  1  So  am  I,  and,  remember,  it  works 
both  ways  equally  ;  if  I  can  find  but  one  passage  which  clearly 

40 


PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS.  41 

proves  that  all  misery  and  sin  shall  ultimately  cease,  it  must 
follow  that  they  cannot  endure  to  all  eternity — and  then,  reader, 
you  are  bound  to  become  a  universalist. 

2.  When  a  book  is  somewhat  obscure  in  its  style,  a  knowledge 
of  the  author's  character  will  help  to  a  proper  understanding  of  it, 
and  it  is  unfair  so  to  interpret  the  matter  written  as  that  it  will 
disagree  with  the  known  mind  and  dispositions  of  the  writer. 
For  example:  Si>ppose,  reader,  that  you  should  happen  on  a  po- 
litical work  claiming  to  have  been  written  by  the  venerated  Wash- 
ington, and  several  passages  in  it  would  bear  the  construction, 
that  the  author  approved  an  absolute  monarchy  as  the  best  form  of 
government ;  would  you  not,  from  what  you  knew  of  the  writer, 
at  once  reject  such  construction  as  unworthy  of  him,  and  as  un- 
likely to  be  the  correct  one?  Certainly  you  would;  you  would 
try  if  said  passages  would  not  fairly  support  a  different  sense — a 
sense  corresponding  with  the  principles  which  the  Father  of  his 
country  espoused  at  the  risk  of  his  fortune  and  life ;  and  finding 
that  they  would,  you  would  most  readily  adopt  it  as  their  true  and 
proper  meaning.  Well,  then,  treat  the  bible  in  the  same  manner ; 
read  it  as  a  revelation  of  the  divine  dispositions  toward  man ; 
and,  recollect,  that  if  it  be  so,  it  will  not  contradict  what  nature 
and  providence  conspire  to  teach  of  his  perfections ;  thus  reading 
it,  you  will  not.  methinks,  arise  from  its  perusal  in  the  belief  that 
it  sanctions  the  dogma  of  endless  suffering. 

3.  The  figurative  part  of  the  scriptures  should  not  be  made  to 
support  a  sense  plainly  at  variance  with  that  of  the  literal  part. 
If  it  is  unequivocally  taught  in  the  bible,  that  all  men  shall  be 
finally  redeemed  from  unrighteousness  and  reconciled  to  their 
Creator,  it  is  manifestly  absurd  to  interpret  certain  parables  and 
allegories  as  teaching  the  contrary.  By  a  mistaken  acceptation 
of  the  figurative  language  of  scripture  :  Jehovah  is  supposed  to 
be  at  times  angry,  sorry,  and  grieved  at  heart !  he  is  thought  to 
hate  sinners  ;  to  take  vengeance  on  them,  to  laugh  at  their  calamU 
ties,  Sic  \  This  is  believed  of  the  unchangeable  /  cr^/z  /  notwith- 
standing that  these  same  scriptures  distinctly  inform  us  that 
God  is  love,  Good  to  all  ,•  that  he  changeth  not,  ivill  not  cast  off 
forever,  is  kind  to  the  unthankful  and  the  evil,  loving  to  every  man, 
and  will  have  all  men  to  he  saved !  By  a  particular  observance  of 
the  foregoing  rule,  and  by  making  the  plain  and  obvious  texts  a 

Vol.  I.— d  2 


42  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

key  to  those  which  are  obscure,  these  apparent  contradictions 
would  be  avoided. 

4.  Some  religious  theories  are  so  absurd  in  themselves — so  at 
war  with  all  our  established  notions  of  the  fitness  of  things — that 
to  suppose  them  supported  by  the  bible,  is  to  believe  the  bible 
itself  unworthy  of  credit,  as  a  book  of  mysteries,  or  rather  ab- 
surdities, with  which  human  reason  can  have  no  concern  ;  and  the 
theory  of  endless  misery  I  conceive  to  be  one  of  that  very  char- 
acter. Many  sensible  minds  have  rejected  the  bible,  because 
they  had  been  taught  by  their  religious  tutors,  that  this  dogma  was 
therein  inculcated.  For,  occording  to  this  theory,  God  either 
designed  the  most  disastrous  results  from  the  work  of  creation, 
and  is  therefore  a  Being  wholly  devoid  of  benevolence  ;  or  these 
results  will  take  place  in  opposition  to  his  design,  which  must 
imply  that  he  lacked  the  wisdom  to  foresee,  or  the  power  to 
prevent  them,  and  is  therefore  short-sighted  or  impotent !  "  Shall 
I  believe  this,  or  discard  the  bible  ?"  is  the  inquiry  of  many  a 
mind  ;  to  which  I  answer,  there  is  another,  and  better  alternative. 
Cast  off  the  influences  of  a  false  education';  and  bow  to  the  sim- 
ple teachings  of  inspiration,  which  are  a  fountain  of  divine  truth 
wherein  are  mirrored  the  ineffable  perfections  of  Jehovah  ;  you 
will  then  find,  methinks,  that  they  are  not  chargeable  with  the 
lending  their  countenance  to  a  doctrine,  which  involves  a  seri- 
ous arraignment  of  all  the  divine  attributes, 

5.  The  scriptures  must  not  be  understood  as  authorizing  a 
tenet,  which  by  its  very  concequences  is  proved  to  be  false ;  try 
that  of  endless  misery  by  this  rule,  and  it  will  be  found,  either 
that  said  dogma  is  unscriptural,  or  that  the  bible  is  in  the  highest 
degree  self-contradictory  ;  for  allowing  that  it  is  taught  in  the 
inspired  volume,  we  must  then  allow  that  it  teaches  the  follow- 
ing incongruities — The  anger  of  God  which  is  but  for  a  moment, 
will  endure  as  long  as  his  mercy,  which  endureth  forever ! — The 
works  of  the  devil  will  exist  after  being  destroyed,  as  long  as 
Christ  shall,  who  is  to  destroy  them — "  God  will  wipe  away  ALL 
tears  from  off  ALL  faces,"  yet  shall  unnumbered  intelligences 
weep  to  all  eternity  ! — "  The  pleasure  of  the  Lord  will  prosper  in 
Christ's  hands,"  nevertheless,  the  pleasure  of  the  devil  will  so 
far  prosper  against  it,  that  where  units  will  be  saved,  scores, 
possibly  hundreds,  will  be  irretrievably  ruined  !     "  Christ  shall 


PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS.  43 

see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied,"  although  his 
blood  will  have  been  shed  in  vain — his  mission  undertaken  in 
vain — his  benevolent  desires  exercised  in  vain,  in  regard  to  innu- 
merable myriads  whose  redemption  and  recovery  he  undertook. 
The  duration  of  the  devil  shall  be  co-eternal  with  that  of  him, 
■who  took  flesh  and  blood,  "  that  through  death  he  might  destroy 
him  that  had  the  power  of  death,  that  is  the  devi^!"  A  large 
portion  of  that  same  world  to  which  the  bread  of  God  from 
heaven  "  giveth  life,"  shall,  nevertheless,  to  all  eternity  continue 
under  the  empire  of  death  !  And  although  the  Lamb  of  God 
*'  taketh  away"  its  sin  ;  it  shall  forever-more  remain  sinful  !  God 
"  will  not  contend  forever,  neither"  saith  he,  "  will  I  be  always 
wroth  ;  for  the  spirits  should  fail  before  me,  and  the  souls  that  I 
have  made."  "  But  he  will  contend,  and  be  wrothful  forever," 
saith  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  "  without  at  all  regarding 
the  consequences  to  the  souls  that  he  has  made."  God's  pleasure  is 
"that  all  return  unto  him  and  live,"  and  his  truth  is  pledged  that 
he  will  do  ALL  his  pleasure,  still,  it  will  to  ceaseless  ages 
remain  unaccomplished !  His  will  is  to  "  have  all  men  to  be 
saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  ;"  but  ^n  im- 
mense majority  of  these  all  men  will  be  endlessly  damned  and 
remain  in  ignorance  !  In  the  resurrection  God  is  to  abolish  the 
last  enemy — to  subdue,  or  reconcile,  all  things  unto  himself;  and 
to  be  all  in  all;  but  he  will  have  many  foes  after  the  last  is 
destroyed — millions  shall  continue  in  rebellion  after  all  shall  be 
reconciled  ;  and  they  shall  be  estranged  and  alienated  from  him 
forever,  notwithstanding  he  shall  have  become  all  in  all.  To 
sum  up,  this  dogma  represents  that  Jehovah  will  be  disappointed ; 
his  purposes  baffled  ;  his  pleasure  unaccomplished ;  that  Christ 
will  have  died  in  vain  in  regard  to  millions;  and,  therefore, 
that  he  was  not  equal  to  the  undertaking  upon  which  he  entered  ; 
and  in  which  an  infinitely  wise  God  saw  fit  to  employ  him ;  that 
the  devil  will  prove  too  strong  for  his  destroyer  and  conqueror  ,• 
that  Christ's  victory  over  Death,  will  leave  to  the  vanquished 
many  more  trophies  than  to  the  vanquisher ;  that  the  works  of 
satan,  who  is  finite,  will  co-endure  with  the  works  of  God,  who 
is  infinite;  sin  shall  exist  as  long  as  holiness  ;  misery  as  long  as 
happiness  ;  death  as  long  as  life ;  error  as  long  as  truth ;  and 
'hell,  for  the  final  overthrow  and  destruction  of  which  the  word  of 


44  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Jehovah  is  pledged ;  will  be  equal  in  its  duration  to  heaven  itself, 
which  is  the  throne  of  (iod.  And  all  this  in  despite  of  scriptural 
assurances  to  the  contrary;  and  despite  also  of  the  means  which 
God  has  employed  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  purposes,  in  the  gift 
of  his  Son,  spirit,  ministry,  word,  judgements  &c  ! ! !  "Who  can 
believe  all — and  more  than  all  this?  Can  you,  reader?  If  not, 
then  imputeaiot  to  the  bible  the  teaching  of  so  absurd  a  system 
as  that  of  which  these  are  the  consequences.  If  you  can  believe 
all  this  ;  why,  then,  God  help  you,  reader !  your  credulity  must 
be  quite  sufficient  for  the  belief  of  any  absurdities  which  it  may 
suit  your  convenience  to  adopt,  or  the  interests  of  priestly  craft  to 
inculcate. 

6.  It  is  admitted  that  if  a  doctrine  be  of  bad  practical  tendency, 
however  plausible  :3  itself,  the  divine  sanction  must  not  be 
claimed  for  it.  This  is  a  sound  rule,  reader,  and  I  am  willing 
to  abide  by  it,  are  you  1  That  the  doctrine  of  endless  suffering 
does  not,  on  the  whole,  exert  a  beneficial  influence  upon  man- 
kind, is  evident  from  reasoning  a  priori^  and  from  facts.  First 
from  reason.  This  doctrine  familiarizes  the  mind  to  scenes  of  hor- 
ror and  wretchedness  more  dreadful  than  words  can  portray,  and 
must  therefore  harden  the  heart  in  the  proportion  in  which  it  is 
believed  ;  for  it  is  an  established  fact  that  the  constant  or  fre- 
quent contemplation  of  suffering  tends  to  blunt  the  sensibilities, 
and  to  generate  cruelty.  Hence  where  public  executions  are 
common,  they  are  witnessed  with  indifference.  Hence  too,  the 
butcher  laughs  while  in  the  act  of  slaughtering  a  lamb — a  sight 
at  which  those  who  are  unaccustomed  to  it  will  weep;  and  hence, 
I  may  further  add,  the  most  frightful  denunciations  of  almighty 
wrath,  are  listened  to  with  perfect  unconcern,  even  by  those  who 
believe,  that  millions  of  the  human  family,  including  neighbors, 
friends,  possibly  immediate  kindred,  will  to  all  eternity  experi- 
ence its  dreadful  weight.  It  is  also  true,  that  cruel  laws  serve 
to  degrade  and  brutalize  those  who  are  subject  to  them;  hence  in 
proportion  to  the  sanguinary  character  of  a  government,  are  the 
barbarousness  and  viciousness  of  the  governed  ;  and,  ^n  the  other 
hand,  a  mild  and  free  government  will  give  birth  to  a  virtuous 
and  generous  people.  Now  the  doctrine  of  endless  suffering 
represents  the  sovereign  of  the  universe  as  a  tyrant,  who  seeks 
to  rule  his  subjects  through  their  fears,    "  Serve  me  or  I  will 


PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS.  45 

burn  you,"  is  the  language  it  puts  into  his  mouth,  "  for  your  finite 
oflfences  I  will  be  infinitely  angry,  and  for  your  disobedience  of  a 
moment,  I  will  punish  you  with  the  pains  of  an  eternity."  Is  it 
to  be  wondered  at,  that  such  a  system  has  generated  so  much 
drivelling  superstition  ] — so  much  morose  and  gloomy  fanati- 
cism ]  so  many  whining,  cringing,  abject,  self-degrading  syco- 
phants ;  who  lie  at  the  feet  of  an  almighty  power,  professing  to 
adore  its  every  act,  however  unintelligible  the  object — for  the 
contemptible  purpose  of  screening  themselves  from  the  weight  of 
its  apprehended  wrath  1  Such,  it  must  be  conceded,  have  in 
all  ages  been  the  influences  of  this  God-dishonoring  tenet,  and 
such,  a  priori,  we  should  judge  they  would  be.  At  the  same  time 
it  is  cheerfully  admitted,  that  very  many,  by  reason  of  their 
native  excellency  of  disposition,  have  proved  superior  to  these 
evil  influences.  These  exceptions,  however,  do  not  affect  the 
general  truth  of  the  rule. 

Second,  from  facts.  The  world  has  experimented  with  the 
dogma  of  ceaseless  woe  for  fifteen  centuries.  What  has  been 
the  result]  The  founders  and  agents  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Portuguese-India  believed  in  it ;  so  did  the  relent- 
less persecutors  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  ;  and  the  per- 
petrators of  the  St.  Bartholomew  massacre ;  wherein  40,000 
were  murdered  in  one  day.  And  those  also  who  lighted  the  fires 
of  Smithfield.  It  was  believed  in,  too,  by  Mahomet,  who  laid 
the  foundation  of  his  system  in  blood  :  and  by  his  followers  it 
was  implicitly  adopted,  together  with  the  principle  that  it  is 
lawful  to  propagate  religion  by  the  sword.  The  worshipers  of 
Juggernaut  believe  in  it,  and  it  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  their 
degradations.  And  it  is  sacredly  cherished  by  the  Bedouins  of 
the  desert;  with  whom  the  power  to  plunder,  constitutes  the 
right  to  do  so.  What  beneficial  influence  has  the  doctrine  of 
endless  misery  exerted  upon  these  1  Scarcely  a  murderer  expi- 
ates his  crimes  upon  the  gallows  but  he  avows  a  belief  in  that 
dogma.*     And  it  has  been  ascertained  that  the  inmates  of  our 

*  See  for  proof  ninety  and  nine  out  of  a  hundred  of  the  printed  confessions  of  ex- 
ecuted criminals.  Such  was  the  belief  of  Washburn,  Hoover  and  Pavis,  recently 
executed  in  Cincinnati ;  and  of  Cowan,  who  butchered  his  wife  and  two  children. 
An  attempt  was  made  in  some  religious  party  prints  to  deceive  the  public  as  to  the 
opinions  of  the  last  named  person  ;  but  unlucliily  for  the  publishers  it  was  made  too 
soon,  i.  e.  before  he  was  executed  ;  and,  therefore,  there  was  opportunity  for  gettine  at 
the  truth  of  the  matter  from  his  own  lips.  Being  wailed  upon  by  several  respectable 
citizens,  and  questioned  as  to  his  belief  on  this  head,  he  slated  thai  he  had  never  en- 


46  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

penitentiaries  are  nearly  all  of  them  the  subjects  of  that  faith.* 
Surely  if  this  dogma  possessed  the  practical  virtues  which  its 
advocates  claim  for  it,  we  should  not  find  a  people  vicious  in 
proportion  to  the  prevalency  of  its  belief  amongst  them  ;  but  it 
is  incontrovertible,  that  we  do  so  find  them,  and  therefore  it  has 
no  such  virtues. 

7.  "  But  in  a  matter  of  this  sort,"  does  the  reader  say  ?  "  it  is 
a  maxim  of  prudence  to  choose  the  safe  side.  Supposing  it  is  ; 
is  it  safer  to  douU  the  divine  goodness  than  to  trust  in  it?  Will 
God  be  angry  with  those  who  ascribe  to  him  more  benevolence 
than  (according  to  your  system)  he  actually  possesses  1  And  will 
he  punish  them  for  such  an  ascription  %  This  hacknied  maxim  of 
prudence^  has,  after  all,  no  prudence  about  it;  we  have  no  right 
HOT  poiver  of  choice  in  the  matter  of  our  belief — we  are  bound  by 
conscience,  and  compelled  by  necessity  to  believe  according  to 
the  decisions  of  evidence,  and,  so  far  as  it  respects  our  eternal 
state,  one  belief  must  be  just  as  safe  as  another.  The  catholic  is 
deterred  from  embracing  protestant  principles  by  the  considera- 
tion, that  though  the  latter  may  be  better — i.  e.  more  reasonable 
and  scriptural — his  own  are  more  safe.  "  You  cannot  be  saved 
out  of  my  church  if  my  faith  is  true,"  saiih  he,  "  whereas,  by 
your  own  confession,  I  can  be  saved  out  of  yours ;  prudence  then 
cautions  me  to  choose  the  safe  side.^^  The  Jew,  and  the  Mahome- 
dan,  use  precisely  the  same  argument,  each  considering  salvation 
sure  m  his  own  church,  and  uncertain  out  of  it;  and  its  foundation 
in  air  cases  is  the  weak  supposition  that  a  dependence  on  the 
divine  mercy  alone  is  insecure.  "  God  may  be  as  good  as  you 
sdy;  out  then  he  may  not;  and  it  is  the  more  prudent  course  to 
prepare  for  the  worst,  that  in  any  event  we  may  be  safe."  Shame 
on  sucn  distrusts  of  the  divine  goodness !  and  on  the  systems  of 
theology  which  tend  to  beget  them  !  | 

8.  We  must  be  careful  how  we  adopt  mere  arbitrary  interpre- 
tations of  scriptural  terms  and  phrases,  or  we  shall  easily  be 

tertained  d-  Hbts  as  to  the  truth  of  the  notion  of  endless  suffprins ;  he  had  for  fourteen 
years  belonged  to  a  church,  which  makes  this  an  essential  article  of  faith. 

*  A  few  years  since  the  newspaper  vituperations  against  universalism,  on  the 
ground  of  its  supposed  vitiatinij  tendencies,  provoked  an  examination  among  the 
state  corrvicts  of  Auburn  and  Sing  Sing  penitentiaries,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether 
this  sysmm  of  reliirion  had  influenced  tne?n  in  their  choice  of  a  criminal  course  of 
life.  The  result  of  the  investigation  was,  that  not  a  singie  universalist  was  found  in 
either  of  these  estal)lishmenls.  The  autliur  of  this  work  visited  the  prison  at  Auburn 
two  years  ago;  this  is  in  the  heart  of  a  country  alxmnding  with  universal ists,  and 
yet  among  its  800  convicts  not  one  believer  in  this  doctrine  was  included ! ! 


PRELIMINARY  CONSIDERATIONS.  47 

deceived  as  to  the  doctrines  of  the  bible.  For  example  ;  Walker 
defines  the  word  redemption^  "  The  purchase  of  God's  favour 
by  the  death  of  Christ."  Could  anything  be  more  absurd  than 
the  idea,  that  the  infinite  Being  sells  his  favors?  and  sells  them 
for  the  blood  of  suffering  innocence  ? !  The  scriptures  everywhere 
represent  the  grace  of  God  as  being  free,  or  gratuitous ;  but  pur- 
chased grace  can  scarcely  be  termed  free.  Webster  gives  us  as 
the  meaning  of  damnation,  "  A  sentence  to  eternal  torment ;"  and 
he  even  refers  us  for  his  authority  to  Mark  xvi.  16.  Now  it  hap- 
pens that  said  passage  is  entirely  silent  about  "  eternal  torment ;" 
and  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  connection  which  necessarily  im- 
plies anything  of  the  kind  ;  consequently,  both  his  definition  and 
his  reference  are  a  sheer  assumption.  Three  words  in  the  original 
tongues,  which  are  wide  of  each  other  in  their  signification,  (I 
mean  sheol,  tartarus,  and  gehenna,)  are  represented  in  our  com- 
mon version  by  the  one  English  word  hell;  and,  until  lately,  it 
was  not  known  that  even,  this  term  has  now  a  different  significa- 
tion from  what  it  had  formerly  ;  insomuch,  that  Christ  could  be 
said  to  have  "  descended  into  hell."  (See  what  is  miscalled 
*' the  apostles  creed,")  without  its  being  thereby  meant  that  he 
went  down  to  a  region  of  torment,  which  is  the  idea  now  convey- 
ed by  the  phrase.  The  English  words  eternal,  everlasting,  for- 
ever, etc.  most  commonly  signify  endless  duration.  The  reader 
must  bear  it  in  mind  that  the  scriptures  were  not  originally  written 
in  English;  the  original  terms  which  in  our  version  these  are 
made  to  represent,  often  to  wwrepresent,  are  not  equivalent  in 
their  meaning,  but  require  to  be  understood  in  each  case  according 
to  the  connection  in  which  they  stand  ;  hence  these  terms  cannot 
be  relied  on  as  sufficient,  of  themselves,  to  settle  such  questions 
concerning  duration  as  may  arise  in  the  course  of  this  investiga- 
tion. But  of  these  things  in  their  proper  place.  For  the  present, 
the  reader  is  only  requested  to  bear  in  mind,  that  his  religious  ed- 
ucation has  led  him  to  associate  with  every  biblical  terra  a  partic- 
ular idea,  and  that  this  association  is  often  incorrect,  having 
grown  out  of  interpretations  entirely  arbitrary ;  and,  therefore, 
that  it  is  in  such  cases  likely  to  lead  him  to  wrong  results  in  his 
inquiries  into  the  meaning  of  the  scriptures.  He  is  requested  as 
far  as  possible  to  guard  against  the  influence  of  this  circumstance; 
and,  instead  of  leaning  too  much  upon  any  authority  aside  from 


48  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  scriptures,  to  prefer  making  them  in  all  possible  cases  the 
interpreters  of  themselves. 

Lastly.  Although  it  is  freely  confessed  that  mere  human  au- 
thority is  insufficient  for  the  settling  of  a  question  like  the  one  be- 
fore us,  yet  should  it  be  found,  that  a  doctrine  now  received  as  true, 
was  not  known  by  christians  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church,  the  fact 
would  warrant  ihe  conclusion,  that  said  doctrine  is  not  taught  in 
the  scriptures.  What  should  we  think  of  a  politician  who  should 
set  up  certain  principles  as  belonging  to  the  JefFersonian  school  in 
politics,  and  on  enquiry  it  should  be  found,  that  none  of  the  im- 
mediate successors  of  that  statesman  had  ever  held  them  1  We 
should  conclude  with  certainty  that  said  politician  was  mistaken. 
In  like  manner,  when  a  theologian  starts  a  theory  in  religion,  and 
we  find  it  to  have  been  unknown  by  those  who  immediately  suc- 
ceeded Christ  and  his  apostles  in  the  gospel  ministry,  we  are 
compelled  to  conclude  against  the  truth  of  said  theory. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  inferred  from  the  above,  that  the  mere 
age  of  an  opinion  entitles  it  to  respectful  consideration ;  for  the 
early  converts  to  Christianity  from  the  Jewish  and  heathen  church- 
es, brought  many  strange  whims  with  them,  which  they  were  fond 
of  incorporating  with  their  new  faith ;  and  the  notion  of  a  dark 
infernum,  populated  with  doomed  spirits,  which  is  the  basis  of  our 
present  theory  of  hell,  was,  without  doubt,  one  of  said  whims. 
W^hilst,  then,  the  entire  novelty  of  a  doctrine  is  proof  presumptive 
of  its  untruth,  the  mere  antiquity  of  a  doctrine  affords  no  presump- 
tion in  its  favor.  That  the  belief  of  universal  salvation  is  not  a 
new  thing  in  Christendom  is  evident  from  ecclesiastical  history. 
Origen,  in  the  third  century,  a  distinguished  father  in  the  church, 
maintained  this  opinion  distinctly ;  and  although  several  of  his 
tenets  were  subsequently  condemned  as  heretical,  this  was  not  in- 
cluded among  them,  which  goes  to  show  that  even  at  that  early 
time,  this  doctrine  was  not  regarded  as  a  novelty.  The  fact  of  its 
not  being  then  considered  a  heresy  is  of  great  weight  in  its  favor, 
for,  unlvke  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  it  cannot  be  shown  to 
have  been  derived  from  any  system  of  heathen  mythology :  but, 
on  the  contrary,  must  be  regarded  as  a  tenet  peculiar  to  Christianity. 
Whereas  the  opposite  doctrine,  whilst  it  forms  a  part  and  parcel 
of  most  of  the  pagin  codes  of  faith,  was  entirely  unrecognized  by 
the  Jewish  religion,  which  claims  its  origin  from  God  himself. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.       49 

Many  other  important  considerations,  reader,  might  be  suggest- 
ed here  on  the  threshold  of  this  investigation,  serving  to  show 
how  very  small  is  the  probability,  that  the  dogma  of  ceaseless 
suffering  can  in  the  issue  be  regarded  as  of  scriptural  authority : 
but  the  above,  it  is  believed,  are  quite  sufficient  for  this  purpose. 
Of  this,  however,  you  must  be  judge  for  yourself.  "  Prove  all 
things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 


UNIVERSAL   SALVATION 

DIRECTLY  AND   POSITIVELY  PROVEN  FROM  THE  AT 
TRIBUTES  OF  GOD. 

1.     GOD  IS  LOVE (1  John,  iv.  8.)— This  proposition  has 

been  much"  declaimed  upon,  by  those  too,  who,  while  they  admitted 
its  truth  in  terms,  denied  it  in  fact.  It  is  now  introduced  as  a 
subject  for  careful  argumentation.  In  this  business  we  shall  not 
need  those  rhetorical  embellishments  which,  at  the  same  time  that 
they  amuse  the  fancy,  often  make  it  an  instrument  in  deceiving 
the  judgment:  the  less  our  argument  is  encumbered  with  these 
the  better  it  will  be,  because  the  more  intelligible. 

As  has  been  well  remarked  (by  Adam  Clarke)  "  God  is  never 
said,  in  the  scriptures,  to  be  Justice,  or  Patience,  or  Holiness, 
but  he  is  frequently  in  one  form  or  another  said  to  be  /owe." 
.Hence  it  is  inferred  that  love  is  his  moral  nature,  and  the  basis 
of  all  his  other  attributes — love  is  God  :  to  say  that  God  is  just, 
or  holy,  or  unchanging,  is  the  same  as  to  say  that  infinite  love  is 
characterised  by  these  qualities  ;  to  say  that  all  creatures  through- 
out all  space  are  in  God's  hands,  and  subject  to  his  control,  is  in 
effect  to  say  they  are  in  lovers  hands,  and  subject  to  its  control :  in 
short,  God  and  love  are  so  essentially  identical,  that  the  name  of 
each  may  be,  and  often  is,  employed  for  designating  the  other; 
any  predicate  of  the  one  will  answer  equally  well  as  a  predicate 
of  the  other ;  hence  we  may  affirm  of  infinite  love  that  it  rules 
the  universe,  is  eternal,  impartial,  holy,  just,  good,  &c.,  for  God 
is  all  these,  and  God  is  love.    In  these  three  words  is  he  defined 

Vol.  L— E  No.  3. 


50  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

by  John,  a  fisherman  of  Galilee,  and  they  express  more  than  all 
the  collected  wisdom  of  previous  and  subsequent  ages  ever  has 
or  can  express. 

The  doctrine  of  endless  misery  is  utterly  irreconcilable  with 
this  essential  attribute  of  the  deity,  for  love  invariably  seeks,  and 
to  the  utmost  of  its  power  promotes  the  ultimate  good  of  its  ob- 
jects ;  by  this  circumstance  alone  is  it  distinguishable  from  its 
opposite  principle  ;  to  affirm  that  love  will  consent  that  any  of  its 
objects  shall  be  miserable,  without  reference  to  any  eventual  good 
from  that  misery^  is  to  affirm  that  it  approves  of  misery  for  its 
own  sake,  and  this  is  to  confound  it  with  hatred.  The  doctrine 
of  endless  woe  does  in  effect  affirm  this,  and  thereby  it  absurdly 
confounds  Jehovah,  who  is  infinite  love,  with  infinite  hatred.  To 
make  this  more  plain,  we  will  suppose  God  to  be  the  opposite  of 
what  he  is — What  should  we  expect  as  the  result!  Anything 
worse  than  what  is  contemplated  in  the  belief  of  unceasing  tor- 
ment? If  not,  in  affirming  this  doctrine,  are  we  not  manifestly 
confounding  love  with  hatred,  since  we  ascribe  to  the  one  such 
actions  as  can  only  result  from  the  other  1 

"Wherever  infinite  love  is,  there  can  no  suffering  be,  except  per- 
mitted from  motives  of  ultimate  benefit  to  the  sufferer,  and  conse- 
quently, in  no  conceivable  case  can  the  theory  of  endless  misery 
be  verified,  except  by  some  means  the  subject  thereof  could  get 
beyond  the  presence  of  love,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  beyond 
the  presence  of  God.     But, 

2.  GOD  IS  OMNIPRESENT.— (Psl.  cxxxix.  7.)— And,  of 
course,  love  is  omnipresent ;  it  surrounds,  pervades,  and  sustains 
all  things,  (Ephe.  iv.  6,)  to  get  beyond  its  reach,  therefore,  is 
impossible,  for  whither  shall  we  go  from  its  presence?  Shall  we 
ascend  to  the  heaven  of  heavens  ?  it  is  there.  Shall  we  descend 
to  depths  unfathomable  by  the  plummet-line  of  thought?  it  will 
Btill  be  far,  far  beneath  us:  and  should  we  speed  with  the  wings 
of  light  to  the  farthest  bounds  of  being,  still,  still  should  we  find 
its  presence  to  extend  immeasurably  beyond  us.  The  sinner  is  in 
its  hands  when  he  goes  hence  equally  as  while  he  is  here,  and 
although  he  may  find  it  "  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of 
God,"  yet  the  result  will  prove  that  they  are  the  hands  of  love, 
and,  therefore,  not  the  hands  of  an  enemy.  Such  was  David's 
view  of  the  matter,  when  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  selecting 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.       51 

one  out  of  three  modes  of  punishment.  "  Let  me  fall  now,"  said 
he,  "  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  for  very  great  are  his  mercies  ,- 
but  let  me  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  man."  (1  Chro.  xii.  13.) 
But  why  prefer  falling  into  God's  hands,  rather  than  those  of 
man,  if,  as  the  dogma  of  eternal  torment  affirms,  God's  inflictions 
will  infinitely  exceed  in  duration  and  severity  any  which  the  most 
cruel  of  mankind  would  be  willing  to  sanction  1 

The  power  of  Jehovah  cannot  extend  where  his  love  does  not, 
for  that  would  prove  the  latter  finite,  and  if  his  power  c-annot  ex- 
tend beyond  his  love,  it  can  act  on  creatures  only  as  directed  by 
love  ;  it  can  inflict  only  such  suffering  as  love  approves  as  con- 
ducive to  its  own  ends  :  hence  it  may  with  confidence  be  affirmed 
that  even  present  suffering  would  not  be  permitted  except  with 
reference  to  some  future  benefit  to  the  sufferer,  and,  consequently, 
that  no^usekss  suffering  exists,  for  if  divine  love  will  overrule  it 
all  for  ultimate  good  it  is  not  useless.  The  scriptures  abundantly 
sustain  this  view  of  the  matter.  "  For  the  Lord,"  say  they, 
"  will  not  cast  off  for  ever,  for  though  he  cause  grief,  yet  will  he 
have  compassion  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies,  for 
he  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men." 
(Lam.  iii.  37.  See  also,  Heb.  xii.  10.)  Of  course  endless 
misery  is  entirely  excluded  by  this  reasoning,  for  misery  without 
end  can  produce  no  beneficial  results  to  the  sufferer,  and  if  no 
beneficial  results  to  the  sufferer,  then  infinite  love  can  have  no 
agency  in  its  infliction  ;  and  if  infinite  love  would  refuse  to  sanc- 
tion it,  then  it  must  take  place,  if  at  all,  where  love  is  not,  but  it 
cannot  take  place  where  love  is  not,  for  love  is  everywhere. 

If  unending  misery  be  inflicted,  will  it  not,  as  it  regards  the 
subjects,  consist  of  an  exercise  of  power  to  the  exclusion  of  love? 
and  will  there  not  in  that  case  be  creatures  whom  God  will  not 
love  ?  and  since  he  will  not  love  them,  can  he  be  a  God  to  them, 
inasmuch  as  there  can  be  no  God  where  there  is  no  love,  for  God  is 
loveT  It  is  impossible  for  answers  consisting  with  the  faith  of 
endless  misery  to  be  rendered  to  these  questions.  If  in  the  vast, 
vast  solitudes  of  space,  there  existed  a  point  beyond  which  the 
divine  presence  did  not  extend,  and  beings  were  capable  of  hurl- 
ing themselves  into  this  desolate  void,  (for  desolate  it  must  needs 
be  without  a  God)  they  doubtless  could  thus  be  rendered  misera- 
ble without  end,  and  thus  only,  as  has  already  been  said,  there  is 


52  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

no  other  way  conceivable ;  but  the  supposition  implies  an  im- 
possibility, Jehovah  being  omnipresent. 

3.  GOD  IS  OMNISCIENT.— (Acts  xv.  18.)— He  knew 
from  eternity  all  we  should  ever  be  ;  he  foresaw  every  mutation 
through  which  we  should  ever  pass  ;  every  sinful  act  we  should 
commit.  If  there  could  ever  arise  any  circumstance  to  affect  his 
regards  for  us,  he  as  certainly  knew  it  before  he  created  us  as 
now ;  the  fact  must  have  been  as  much  a  cause  for  wrath  or 
hatred  toward  us  then  as  after  it  transpired ;  nevertheless,  in  full 
view  of  all  which  it  was  foreseen  we  should  be  he  loved  us,  and 
that  too  "  with  a  great  love  :"  (Ephe.  ii.  4.)  Now  if  God  were 
defective  in  this  attribute  of  his  character,  the  notion  of  endless 
misery  would  find  some  sort  of  shelter  in  the  plea,  that  as 
Jehovah  failed  to  foresee  that  so  disastrous  a  case  would  arise, 
he  did  not  provide  against  it,  and,  therefore,  that  the  evil  is  now 
past  remedy,  and  God  would  fain  prevent  it  if  he  could.  But  no 
such  plea  can  be  set  up,  for  not  alone  in  sound  philosophy,  but  in 
the  scriptures,  he  is  represented  as  "  seeing  the  end  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that  are  not  yet  done." 
(Isaiah  xlvi.  10.)  Futurity,  which  to  all  other  eyes,  lies  in  im- 
penetrable shadow,  is  perfectly  open  and  clear  to  his;  he  know- 
cth  all  its,  as  yet,  undeveloped  and  unrecorded  events.  And  how 
could  it  be  otherwise  1  for 

"  Did  he  o'erlook  the  least  of  his  concerns, 
(Since  from  the  least  the  greatest  oft  originate,) 
Then  unforeseen  contingence  might  alarm  him, 
And  disturb  the  smooth  and  equal  course  of  his 
Affairs," 

It  is  worse  than  idle,  then,  to  resort  to  the  ridiculous  subterfuge 
of  saying,  that  God  does  not  foreknow  all  things  !  but  could  know 
them  were  he  so  minded  ! — which  fantasm  has  been  sanctioned  by 
no  less  a  personage  than  Dr.  Adam  Clarke !  A  blunder,  this,  (by 
the  way,)  which  may  be  pardoned  in  a  son  of  Erin,  but  in  no 
other,  for  it  implies  that  God  must  know  all  things,  in  order  to 
determine  how  many  and  which  among  them  he  may  choose  to 
know,  and  how  many  and  which  of  them  he  may  choose  to  be 
ignorant  of!  I  have  shown,  I  think,  that  God's  foreknowledge 
comprised  all  events,  and  that  in  view  of  all  which  it  was  foreseen 
we  should  be  he  loved  us.     If,  then,  his  love  shall  always  con- 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  53 

tinue,  it  will  surely  not  consent  to  our  being  plunged  into  suffer- 
ings which  can  yield  us  no  benefit;  and  if  his  love  shall  not 
always  continue,  he  must  necessarily  undergo  a  change. — But 

4.  GOD  IS  UNCHANGEABLE.— (James  iii.  2.)— And 
even  were  he  otherwise,  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  cause 
which  could  justify  a  change  in  him  toward  us,  because  nothing 
in  relation  to  us  has  transpired  of  which  he  was  not  fully  aware 
long  before  w^e  had  a  being.  Arminians  are  apt  to  tell  us  in  this 
argument,  that  although  the  love  wherewith  God  once  loved  the 
sinner  shall  eventually  change  to  hatred,  yet  God  changeth  not  I 
The  change,  say  they,  is  altogether  in  the  sinner  !  which,  to  my 
thinking,  is  very  singular  logic.  God  hates  to-day  the  very  beings 
whom  he  loved  yesterday,  and  yet  remains  unchanged  !  !  Then 
surely  love  and  hatred  are  one  and  the  same  thing  !  "  But,"  say 
they  again,  "  he  loved  us  as  pure  beings,  and  on  our  becoming 
sinners  he  ceased  to  love  us."  Well,  supposing  this  the  case, 
does  he  undergo  no  change  in  ceasing  to  love  us  ?  How  absurd 
the  negative  to  this  question.  But  it  is  contrary  to  fact  that  God 
loved  us  as  pure  beings — he  never  knew  us  as  such  ;  it  is  fllatly 
contrary  to  scripture  likewise,  for  "  God  commended  his  love  to- 
ward us  in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us." 
(Rom.  v.  16.)  "  When  ive  were  enemies,  we  were  reconciled  to 
God  by  the  death  of  his  son."  (Ibid.  ver.  10.)  And  hence  another 
inspired  writer  observes,  "  Herein  was  love,  not  that  we  loved 
God,  but  that  God  loved  us."  (1  John  iv.  10.)  Now  do  we  not 
seriously  detract  from  the  divine  character,  when  we  represent 
that  his  love  toward  us  will  abate,  merely  because  we  prove  to  be 
just  such  beings  as  he  clearly  foresaw  we  would  be  when  that 
love  was  first  conceived,  supposing  it  to  have  had  a  beginning? 
For  nothing  surely  but  a  change  from  love  to  hatred  can  induce  his 
consent,  that  an  existence  which  he  conferred  as  a  blessing,  shall 
by  any  possibility  be  converted  to  a  curse. 

The  Arminian  will  here  shift  his  ground,  and  argue  as  follows. 
*'  God  eternally  hates  sin  ;  when  we  become  sinners,  we  associ- 
ate ourselves  with  what  he  eternally  hates,  and  therefore  his 
hatred  of  us  implies  no  change  on  his  part  but  on  ours."  Now 
knowr  you  not,  sir,  that  this  is  a  mere  sophism  1  For  in  associa- 
ting ourselves  with  sin  we  do  not  become  sin,  an''-  therefore  do  not 
become  the  thing  which  God  eternally  hates.    If  you  could  show 

Vol.  I.— e  2 


54  PRO  AND  CON  OF  TNIVERSALISM. 

that  God  eternally  hates  sinners^  it  would  be  much  more  to  your 
purpose.  And  think  you,  sir,  that  Jehovah  will  subject  to  an  in- 
discriminate destruction  both  that  which  he  loves  and  that  which 
he  hates  1  that  he  will  never  dissociate  them  1  It  were  equally 
■wise  in  the  farmer  to  destroy  both  his  wheat  and  its  adherent 
chaff,  merely  because  he  found  them  together  in  his  field !  Or 
for  the  lapidary  to  destroy  his  precious  stones,  because  of  the 
worthless  earths  in  which  he  may  have  found  them  embedded  ! 

Either  God  once  loved  the  sinner,  or  he  did  not.  If  he  did  notf 
then  he  created  him  in  hatred,  and  it  is  vain  to  look  to  the  life  or 
character  of  the  sinner  for  the  ground  of  that  hatred,  as  it  took 
place  millions  of  ages  before  he  was  in  being !  If  God  did  once 
love  the  sinner,  he  loves  him  yet — he  ever  will — or  he  is  a  finite 
Being,  and  affected  by  finite  objects ;  but,  the  scriptures  being 
true,  this  cannot  be,  "  for  he  is  of  one  mind  and  none  can  turn 
him."  (Job  xxiii.  13.)  God  must,  therefore,  to  all  eternity  love 
all  intelligences  ;  this  love  will  not  prevent  their  being  subjected 
to  just  punishment,  for  punishment  aims  at  a  good  result ;  but  it 
will  certainly  prevent  their  being  ruined;  for  the  ruin  of  its  object 
is  only  consistent  with  hatred. 

It  is  the  very  perfection  of  absurdity  to  suppose  that  the  dispo- 
sitions of  an  infinite  Being  are  in  anywise  affected  by  the  muta- 
tions of  his  frail  and  short-sighted  creatures;  this  our  opponents 
must  and  do  admit,  and  yet  they  are  continually  giving  to  some 
obscure  scripture  texts  such  an  interpretation  as  makes  them  teach 
directly  the  contrary.  For  instance,  the  passage  in  the  first 
chapter  of  Proverbs,  where  Wisdom,  personified  in  the  feminine 
gender,  is  represented  as  saying,  "  Because  I  have  called  and  ye 
refused,  I  have  stretched  out  my  hands  and  NO  man  regarded  ;  I 
also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  and  mock  when  your  fear  com- 
eth,"  &c.  Which  text  is  usually  subjected  to  the  horrid  comment, 
that  the  Almighty  God  will  laugh,  and  sport  himself  with  the 
miseries  of  his  infinitely  ruined  offspring  !  But  in  their  blind  zeal 
to  make  out  a  case  our  opponents  seem  to  overlook  the  fact,  that, 
thus  interpreted,  the  passage  goes  quite  beyond  their  purpose — it 
proves  too  much,  as  it  includes  themselves,  with  all  mankind  be- 
sides, in  a  doom  of  final  reprobation — "  NO  man  regarded  ;"  and 
therefore  ALL  men  must  be  endlessly  damned !  A  sweeping 
conclusion,  truly. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.       55 

The  mutability  of  God  is  manifestly  implied  in  the  common 
supposition,  that  although  he  will  bear  with  the  provocations  of 
sinners  during  the  term  of  their  stay  on  earth,  yet  so  soon  as  they 
are  removed  hence,  he  will  utterly  alter  his  course,  and  let  loose 
his  vengeance  upon  them  without  mercy.  Some  have  even  sup- 
posed that  there  is  a  period  in  the  lifetime  of  each  individual,  be- 
yond which  the  divine  forbearance  will  no  longer  be  exercised 
toward  him ;  if  he  remains  impenitent  up  to  that  juncture,  he  is 
said  to  have  "  sinned  away  his  day  of  grace  ;"  his  fate  is  then 
sealed.  To  such  an  one  will  apply  the  language  of  Abdiel,  ad- 
dressed to  the  chief  fallen  spirit,  in  "  Paradise  Lost." 

■ ■"  those  indulgent  laws  will  not  be  now  vouchsafed, 

Other  decrees  against  thee  are  gone  forth  without  recall. 
That  golden  scepter  which  thou  didst  reject,  is  now 
An  iron  rod  to  bruise  and  break  thy  disobedience." 
How  hapless  the  lot  of  such !    For  they  have  learned  by  bitter  ex- 
perience that  the  divine  mercy  is  as  variable  as  their  own  purposes  ! 
The  number,  however,  is  comparatively  small,  who  think  that  life's 
flickering  taper  will  in  some  cases  outburn  the  sun  of  divine  mercy ; 
much  the  most  of  christians  are  of  the  opinion  of  the  poet,  that, 
"  Whilst  the  lamp  holds  out  to  burn 
The  vilest  sinner  may  return." 
But  the  philosophy  is  weak,  and  the  theology  false  in  either  case ; 
for  how  in  the  name  of  both  can  God's  dispositions  toward  his 
creatures  be  affected  by  their  removal  from  one  department  of  his 
works  to  another  ?     Can  such  removal  change  the  relations  be- 
tween the  parties  1     Is  God  not  the  same  Being  in  all  places  1 
Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  Paul.     Suppose  that  on  his  way  to 
Damascus,  when  the  vision  came  upon  him,  he  had  broken  his 
neck  in  falling  to  the  ground ;  he  would  then  have  died  an  un- 
converted persecutor  of  the  christian  religion.  What  then  ?  Why 
then,  according  to  popular  theology,  he  would  have  been  an  ob- 
ject of  divine  wrath  to  all  eternity  !     But,  luckily  for  him,  his 
neck  escaped,  and  a  few  minutes  witnessed  his  moral  transforma- 
tion into  a  chosen  vessel  of  mercy  !    What  a  hair-breadth  partition 
betwixt  bliss  and  woe  eternal !     How  unstable  the  divine  regards 
toward  his  creatures !  and  how  feeble  the  chances  on  which  they 
turn!     "  I  am  the  Lord,  I  change  not,  therefore  ye  sons  of  Jacob 
are  not  consumed."    (Mai.  iii.  6.)    For  the  same  reason,  I  desire 
no  better ;  the  dogma  of  interminable  misery  must  be  false. 


56  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM 

5.  GOD  IS  OMNIPOTENT.--(Rev.  xix.  5.)— Whatsoever, 
therefore,  his  wisdom  prompts  him  to  purpose,  his  power  ena- 
bles him  to  execute.  By  Calvinists  this  truth  is  fully  admitted, 
but  they  contend,  that  God  only  purposed  the  salvation  of  a  part 
of  mankind,  and  that  that  part  must  eventually  be  g^athered  in, 
"for,"  say  they,  "  God  has  all  power,  and  will  not  fail  to  do  his 
pleasure."  They  seem  anxious  to  vindicate  the  divine  wisdom 
and  poicer,  but  it  is  at  the  expense  of  his  goodness  and  equity. 
Arminians,  on  the  other  hand,  seem  shocked  at  this  limitation  of 
the  divine  benevolence,  and  contend  that  God  is  impartial,  and 
earnestly  desires  to  have  all  men  saved,  but  from  some  cause 
or  other  will  be  disappointed  !  They  seem  anxious  to  vindicate 
the  divine  goodness  and  equity.,  but  it  is  at  the  expense  of  his 
wisdom  and  power  !  The  Calvinistic  deity  is  an  all-wise,  and 
all-powerful  Being ;  but  partial.,  and  inexorable,  who  works 
for  his  own  mere  pleasure.,  uncaring  how  much  misery  that 
pleasure  may  cost  his  creatures  !  His  own  glory  is  his  continual 
aim — for  this  he  raises  up  or  casts  down — gives  life  or  death — he 
saves  or  damns.  His  glory  must  reign,  though  the  throne  of  its 
sovereignty  be  erected  on  pyramids  of  damned  spirits  !  The 
Arminian  God,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  kind-hearted,  well-meaning 
Being,  but  deplorably  deficient  in  prudence  and  foresight.,  he  is 
rather  to  be  pitied  than  blamed  when  the  creatures  he  formed  for 
himself  are  wrested  from  him  by  the  devil,  and  lured  into 
irrecoverable  ruin,  for  he  certainly  made  them  for  a  different  end  ! 
He  is  rather  to  be  pitied  than  blamed  I  say,  yet,  in  truth,  he  is 
scarcely  excusable  in  having  created  beings,  of  whom  he  knew 
himself  unable  to  take  the  necessary  care !  and  that  by  far  the 
larger  part  of  them  should — despite  his  utmost  efforts  to  the 
contrary — become  a  prey  to  his  malignant  enemy  the  devil. 
Reader,  can  you  in  conscience  say  that  I  am  unfair  in  these  rep- 
resentations 1  Universalists  worship  a  deity  "  who  will  have  all 
men  to  be  saved,"  (1.  Tim.  ii.  6.)  and  who  "worketh  all  things 
after  the  council  of  his  own  will,"  (Eph.  i.  2.)  whose  pleasure 
it  is  that  all  should  "  turn  from  their  evil  way  and  live,"  (Eze. 
xxxii.  11.)  and  who  "  will  do  all  his  pleasure,"  (Isa.  xlvi.  10.) 
God  has  certainly  not  given  to  his  creatures  an  ability  to  counteract 
his  infinite  purposes !  On  the  contrary,  "  He  doelh  his  will,  in  the 
armies  of  heaven,  and  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.       57 

none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  what  doest  thou?" 
(Dan.  iv.  35.) 

It  is  pretended,  that  "  none  are  doomed  to  final  ruin,  till  God  has 
previously  done  every  thing  for  their  salvation,  which,  consistently 
wuth  his  attributes,  he  can  do ;  and  that,  therefore,  the  endless  mis- 
ery of  the  damned  involves  no  reflection  on  the  divine  goodness." 
Supposing  this  true,  does  it  involve  no  reflection  on  his  goodness 
to  have  called  them  into  being,  under  circumstances  which 
rendered  their  endless  misery  certain  ?  But  it  is  not  true ;  the 
weight  of  Christ's  authority  stands  against  it;  he  testifies  that 
God  did  much  more  for  Chorazin,  and  Bethsaida,  than  he  had 
done  for  Tyre,  and  Sidon ;  and  that  had  he  done  as  much  for  the 
latter  places,  "  they  would  long  ago  have  repented,  sitting  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes,"  (Mat.  xi.  20.)  And  addressing  Caperna- 
um, he  says,  "  If  the  mighty  works  which  are  done  in  thee,  had 
been  done  in  Sodom,  it  would  have  remained  unto  this  day," 
(ibid.)  Now  it  certainly  must  be  considered  a  singular  fact,  that 
God  desires  the  salvation  of  all,  and  yet  permits  thousands  to 
sink  to  endless  woe,  who  could  have  been  saved  by  his  doing 
merely  as  much  for  them,  as  he  saw  fit  to  do  for  others  !  How  is 
this?  Universalists  maintain,  that  God's  love  is  as  strong  be- 
yond, as  on  this  side  the  grave  ;  and  that  what  it  fails  of  accom- 
plishing here,  it  will  infallibly  accomplish  hereafter ;  at  least,  the 
ultimate  salvation  of  all  men  cannot  fail  from  a  lack  of  divine 
power ;  if  at  all  it  must  be  from  a  lack  of  his  goodness.     But 

6.  GOD  IS  GOOD.— (Psa.  Ixxxvi.  5.)— Goodness  is  opposed 
to  evil,  it  seeks  to  overcome  it,  hence  the  injunction,  "  Be  not 
overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good,"  (Rom.  xii.  27.) 
This,  undoubtedly,  is  according  to  the  divine  conduct,  for  God 
would  certainly  not  enjoin  on  his  creatures  a  virtue  which  he 
will  not  practice  himself;  and  if  the  divine  goodness  shall  event- 
ually overcome  our  evil,  then  the  existence  of  evil  must  forever 
cease  ;  and,  by  consequence,  the  existence  of  misery  also.  "  The 
Lord  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender  mercy  is  over  all  his  works," 
(Psl.  cxlv.  9.)  But  how  God  can  be  good  to  all,  and  yet  torment 
countless  millions  without  any  regard  to  their  good,  is  more  than 
can  be  comprehended  !  How  his  tender  mercy  can  be  over  all 
his  works,  and  yet  a  large  portion  of  those  works  be  abandoned 
to  infinite  ruin,  is  also  more  than  can  be  comprehended  !     Indeed, 


58  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

there  are  many  things  in  the  scriptures  which  we  must  not 
pretend  to  understand  in  accordance  with  the  notion  of  endless 
misery,  inasmuch  as  they  are  utterly  repugnant  to  that  doctrine. 
If  the  mercy  of  God  does  extend  to  the  damned,  without  allevia- 
ting their  miseries,  or  eventually  bringing  them  to  a  salutary 
termination,  then  there  is  no  difference  between  mercy  and 
cruelty — it  is  as  well  to  be  the  object  of  the  one  as  of  the  other — 
since  they  both  produce  the  same  effects.  For  how  can  cruelty 
be  better  defined  than  by  saying,  it  is  the  injiiction  of  torment  on 
an  object^  without  designing  any  good  to  that  object  from  that  tor- 
ment? and  if  infinite  mercy  will  do  this,  then  it  is  not  distin- 
guishable from  infinite  cruelty.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  mercy 
of  God  does  not  extend  to  the  damned,  then  it  is  not  "  over  all  his 
works,"  neither  is  it  infinite,  which  signifies  without  bounds  or 
limits. 

To  me  it  seems  that  the  question  of  endless  misery  can  be 
settled  in  few  words,  as  follows — The  unhappy  subjects  of 
endless  damnation,  is  their  existence,  so  far  as  respects  them- 
selves, a  good  1  or  an  evil?  You  will  not  hesitate  to  answer, 
an  evil.  I  again  ask.  Can  an  absolute  evil  emanate  from  a  Be- 
ing who  is  infinitely  good?  NO,  is  the  only  answer  of  which 
this  question  will  fairly  admit,  and  it  answers  equally  well  the 
question,  whether  the  dogma  of  unceasing  suffering  can  possibly, 
in  this  view  of  the  case,  be  true  ? 

7.  GOD  IS  JUST.— (Deut.  xxxii.  4.)— We  are  brought  into 
existence  by  the  mere  will  of  our  creator;  we  are  compelled  to 
accept  of  that  existence  on  his  own  terms,  our  will  is  not  consulted 
in  the  matter;  if  the  terms  on  which  we  receive  our  being  are  as 
dreadful  as  represented  by  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  it 
seems  but  just  that  we  should  be  voluntary  parties  in  the  com- 
pact; but  such  we  are  not,  and,  therefore,  cannot  justly  be  held 
to  the  terms. 

A  powerful  nobleman  settles  by  deed  of  conveyance  a  small 
farm  upon  one  of  his  tenants;  while  the  latter  is  rejoicing  in  his 
newly  acquired  property,  he  is  informed,  that  .the  conditions  of 
the  gitt  are,  that  not  a  singrle  weed  must  be  allowed  to  grow  upon 
the  premises  ;  that  if,  at  any  moment  when  it  may  suit  the  donor 
to  call  him  to  account,  there  shall  be  found  any  such  within  the 
limits  of  the  farm,  he  shall  answer  for  it  with  his  life,  and  be  put 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.      59 

to  death  in  the  most  horrid  manner.  The  poor  man  in  g^eat  alarm 
hastens  to  inform  the  nobleman  that  he  cannot  accept  of  the  proper- 
ty on  such  fearful  terms ;  but  he  is  told  in  reply  that  it  is  now  too 
late ;  the  compact  is  settled,  and  sealed,  and  cannot  be  cancelled. 
"  Whether  )'ou  were  acquainted  with  the  conditions  or  not — 
whether  a  party  in  the  bargain  or  not — it  is  my  will  that  the  mat- 
ter should  be  as  it  is,  and  you  must  abide  the  issue."  Reader,  is 
the  conduct  of  that  nobleman  just? 

Justice  requires,  that  when  an  article  of  value  is  entrusted  to 
any  one's  keeping,  he  should  be  clearly  apprised  of  its  full  worth, 
and  the  consequences  of  its  loss,  and  should  be  provided  with 
means  of  security  in  proportion.  Now  conceive  man  charged 
with  the  keeping  of  an  immortal  spirit,  and  that  his  sins  during 
this  brief  existence,  will  subject  it  through  unending  duration 
to  the  dreadful  heritance  of  its  almighty  maker's  frowns.  I 
ask,  if  man  is  so  clearly  apprised  of  his  situation  as  the  magni- 
tude of  the  matter  at  stake  requires  he  should  be  ?  I  ask  further, 
are  his  means  of  security  in  proportion  to  the  inconceivably  dread- 
ful issue  of  the  cast  ?  On  the  contrary,  if  the  system  which 
supposes  this  state  of  things  be  true,  myriads  of  invisible  spirits 
are  constantly  seeking  opportunities  to  deceive  and  ruin  him, 
and  his  own  depraved  nature — with  which  he  is  born  without  his 
own  consent — is  ever  ready  to  second  their  malignant  efforts  !  In 
addition,  the  way  of  safety  is  so  dim  and  uncertain,  that  a  thou- 
sand different  paths  are  sincerely  mistaken  for  it,  and  by  no 
possibility  can  it  certainly  be  determined,  that  any  one  is  right  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  the  rest !  There  are  innumerable  wants  and 
anxieties  to  which  man  is  unavoidably  subject,  and  which  tend  to 
divert  his  mind  from  the  business  of  his  soul's  salvation  !  Sure- 
ly they  must  deem  but  meanly  of  the  justice  of  heaven,  who 
imagine  that  he  thus  trifles  with  the  eternal  interests  of  his 
creatures  ! 

Justice  also  requires,  that  there  should  be  an  equal  pro- 
portion between  crime  and  punishment;  and  who  will  pretend 
that  such  proportion  exists  betwixt  the  crimes  of  even  the  most 
abandoned  of  our  race,  and  the  ceaseless  sufferings  of  eternity? 
sufferings  which  shall  inconceivably  long  endure,  when  as  many 
millions  of  ages  shall  have  passed  away,  as  there  are  stars  in 
the  firmament  of  night — multiplied  by  as  many  more  as  there  are 


60  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

particles  of  light  in  the  sun — and  these  by  as  many  as  there  are 
atoms  of  matter  in  the  universe — and  the  whole  together  by  as 
many  as  the  moments  of  duration  which  have  elapsed,  since  the 
almighty  put  forth  the  first  exertion  of  his  omnipotence  !  Must  it 
not  be  admitted,  that  in  damning  to  all  eternity  one  immortal 
spirit,  God  would  inflict  a  greater  evil,  than  all  the  sins  of  all 
mankind,  from  the  commencement  till  the  close  of  time,  ever 
have  or  ever  can  accomplish  1  "With  what  justice  then  can  end- 
less misery  be  inflicted  1 

I  may  be  told  that  "the  sin  of  man  is  ivjinite,  and,  therefore, 
deserving  of  infinite  punishment."  But  the  notion  of  the  infinity 
of  sin  destroys  all  idea  of  proportion  between  one  sin  and  anoth- 
er, and,  consequently,  the  slightest  idle  word  is  equal  to  "the 
blasphemy  against  the  holy  ghost."  Besides  this  notion  proves 
one  sin  to  be  infinite,  and,  therefore,  a  million  of  sins  is  a  million 
of  infinities  !  and  if  one  deserve  infinite  punishment,  how  can  a 
million  ever  be  justly  punished  1  There  is  no  end  to  the  absurd 
consequences  deducible  from  this  position. 

Sin  is  a  voluntary  violation  of  the  divine  requirements,  "To 
him  that  knoweih  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin," 
(Jam.  iv.  17.)  Does  God  exact  infinite  performances  of  finite 
creatures'?  If  so,  he  requires  of  us  as  much  as  he  can  do  him- 
self! and  if  not,  sin  is  a  violation  of  but  finite  obligations,  and  is 
consequently  but  finite  in  itself,  and  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
he  commits  wull  be  the  quantity  of  the  sinner's  punishment. 

We  set  up  no  claim  to  eternal  life  on  the  ground  of  justice,  we 
would  not  be  understood  as  demanding  this  as  a  matter  of  right, 
we  hope  for  it  as  "  the  gift  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ." 
But  we  do  claim  171  justice  \o  be  returned  to  our  original  uncon- 
sciousness, except  it  shall  please  God  to  prolong  our  existence  for 
objects  of  benevolence ;  we  do  too  firmly  rely  upon  his  justice  to 
believe,  that  he  w^ould  obtrude  on  us  a  being  by  which  he  knew 
we  should  be  infinitely  the  losers  !  and  we  conceive,  therefore, 
that  we  have  a  large  interest  in  this  attribute  of  his  character. 
God  is  too  just  to  be  unmerciful,  as  well  as  too  merciful  to  be 
unjust;  there  is  the  utmost  harmony  between  these  perfections  of 
his  nature.  God  is  not  divided  against  himself,  and  as  the  unend- 
ing misery  of  millions  of  mankind,  cannot  be  agreeable  to  his 
mercy,  it  cannot  for  the  same  reason  be  agreeable  to  his  justice* 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.       61 

Would  it  be  just  in  God  to  subject  the  sinner  to  the  necessity  of 
remaining  unjust  to  all  eternity  ?  Does  justice,  in  requital  for  a 
temporary  violation  of  its  requirements,  demand  that  those  re- 
quirements should  continue  eternally  to  be  violated  1  The  doc- 
trine of  endless  misery  certainly  involves  an  affirmative  answer 
to  these  questions  ! 

8.  GOD  IS  HOLY.— (Lev.  xix.  2.)— From  the  opposition 
between  this  principle  and  sin,  we  argue  that  the  latter  must 
eventually  be  brought  to  a  period ;  which,  to  be  sure,  is  a 
very  different  idea  from  that  which  is  commonly  entertained, 
viz.  that  God,  who  is  a  being  of  infinite  purity,  will  cause  sin, 
or  at  least  permit  it,  to  co-endure  with  his  own  eiernity  !  If  sin 
shall  always  exist,  it  will  be  owing  either  to  a  want  of  power 
in  God  to  destroy  it,  or  to  a  want  of  disposition.  To  the  former  it 
cannot  be,  for  he  is  almighty  ;  neither  can  it  be  to  the  latter,  for  it 
is  a  thousand  times  declared  in  his  word,  in  one  form  or  other, 
that  sin  is  utterly  odious  to  him.  How  then  can  it  be  supposed, 
that  he  will  doom  those  who  die  unholy,  eternally  to  remain  so? 

Either,  1st, — Sin,  and  the  divine  holiness,  shall  exist  in  eternal 
opposition  to  each  other — or  2ndly,  they  shall  exist  in  eternal 
union — or,  3dly,  the  greater  of  the  two  shall  eventually  overcome, 
and  destroy  the  other.  If  the  1st  is  true,  the  parties  must  be 
equal,  and  so  neither  of  them  can  be  infinite  !  If  the  2nd  is  true, 
all  that  the  scriptures  and  moral  philosophy  teach  respecting  the 
deity,  must  be  false  !  We  must  therefore  conclude  the  3rd  to  be 
true  ;  And  now,  which  shall  prevail,  infinite  purity,  or  sin  ?  If 
the  former,  the  whole  universe  shall  be  reconciled  to  God,  and 
be  happy.  If  the  latter,  the  whole  universe  shall  be  subjected  to 
the  devil,  and  be  miserable.  Can  common  sense  be  at  a  loss  for 
a  decision  in  this  case  1  The  scriptures,  at  least,  have  not  left 
the  matter  in  doubt,  "  For  it  pleased  the  Father,  that  in  him  all 
fulness  should  dwell,  and  (having  made  peace  by  the  blood  of 
the  cross)  by  him  to  reconcile  all  things  unto  himself;  by  him,  I 
say,  whether  they  be  things  in  earth,  or  things  in  heaven." 
(Col.  i.  20.)  According  to  very  respectable  commentators, 
*' things  in  earth,  and  things  in  heaven,"  is  a  common  Hebrew 
phrase  for  expressing  the  whole  intelligent  universe. 

An  objector  may  here  inquire,  "  Why,  since  it  is  so  opposed 
to  his  nature,  does  not  God  exterminate  sin  at  once  1  and,  since 
Vol.  I.—F 


62  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

he  does  not  at  once,  how  do  we  know  that  he  ever  will  1  To  the 
first  question  I  reply,  that  sin,  though  odious  in  itself,  may  yet, 
as  overruled  by  the  divine  Being,  be  made  to  eventuate  in  a 
greater  good  than  could  be  effected  without  its  means.  I  say  not 
that  God  appointed  it  to  that  end  ;  but  that  he  will  so  overrule  it 
that  such  shall  be  the  result.  How  otherwise,  can  his  permit- 
ting its  existence  be  vindicated?  for  it  could  surely  not  have 
existed  without  his  permission.  "  The  wrath  of  man  shall 
praise  him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  he  will  restrain,"  (Psa. 
Ixxvi.  10.)  None  will  deny  that  there  are  numerous  instances  on 
sacred  record  of  sin  having  been  made  to  minister  to  good 
results.  The  betrayal  and  crucifixion  of  Jesus  Christ  are  exam- 
ples to  this  point.  To  the  2nd  question  I  answer,  that  the 
scriptures  afford  us  the  clearest  guarantee  that  all  evil  shall 
come  to  a  close ;  it  is  supposed  to  be  the  work  of  the  devil, 
i.  e.  an  adversary,  and  "  for  this  purpose  the  son  of  God  was  man- 
ifested, that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,'''  (1  John, 
iii.  10.)  Of  course,  we  are  not  warranted  in  supposing  that  these 
same  works  of  the  devil  will  continue  in  being  after  they  are 
destroyed,  as  long  as  he  shall  who  is  to  destroy  them ;  and  if 
sin  shall  cease,  so  also  shall  suffering. 

Much  is  said  by  objectors  of  shallow  intellect,  on  the  absurdity 
of  supposing,  that  sinners  can  enjoy  happiness  in  the  immediate 
presence  of  a  holy  God.  "The  pure  abodes  of  bliss,"  they 
say,  "  would  afford  no  felicity  to  sinners."  This  objection  rests 
on  the  assumption  that  universalists  hold  to  all  men  being  saved 
in  their  sins,  which  is  not  the  fact,  and  the  objection  is  therefore 
inapplicable;  if  it  have  any  force  at  all,  it  is  equally  against  the 
objectors,  for,  are  they  not  sinners  1  If  not,  they  are  not  of  the 
class  which  Christ  came  to  save,  for  he  "  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners,"  yea  the  "  chief,"  (1  Tim.  i.  15.)  Grace  shall 
abound  where  sin  hath  abounded,  and  by  as  much  more  as  infinite 
goodness  exceeds  finite  evil ;  God  requires  us  to  be  holy,  as  he 
is  holy,  and  has  declared  that  without  holiness  no  man  can  see 
him ;  yet  has  he  given  us  in  his  word  the  counter  assurance,  that 
his  "  glory  shall  be  revealed,  and  alljiesh  shall  see  it  together," 
(Isaiah,  xl.  4.)  which  implies  of  course,  that  all  shall  have 
attained  to  the  prerequisite  holiness,  which  is  the  term  of  admis- 
sion to  his  blissful  presence. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.       63 

9.  GOD  IS  TRUE.— (2.  Cor.  i.  18.)— And  man  is  to  ''live 
by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  his  mouth."  (Mat.  iv.  4.) 
For  his  words  are  words  of  love,  (God  is  love,)  and  are  dispensed 
to  minister  moral  life  to  man ;  hence  the  gospel  is  called  "  the 
word  of  his  grace,^^  (Acts  xx.  32.)  and  "the  word  of  /^/<2." 
(Acts  v.  20.)  It  is  also  identified  with  a  message  oi  salvation, 
(Acts  xiii.  26.)  and  with  a  message  of  jieace.  (Acts  x.  36.) 
The  burden  of  its  communication  is,  that  "  eternal  life,  which 
God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised  before  the  world  began."  (Titus 
i.  2.)  And  being  promised  before  the  world  began,  it  was  not 
made  dependant  on  anything  in  us,  or  to  be  performed  by  us,  but 
on  the  divine  verity.  "  For  he  is  faithful  that  promised."  (Heb. 
X.  23.)  Our  unbelief  can  never  induce  Jehovah  to  violate  his 
word.  "If  we  believe  not,  yet  he  abideth  faithful,  he  cannot 
deny  himself."  (2.  Tim.  ii.  13.)  Man's  purposes  and  promises 
are  necessarily  affected  by  unforeseen  contingents,  but  when 
Jehovah  gives  his  word  no  circumstance  can  prevent  its  being 
made  good.  "  For  as  the  rain  cometh  down  and  the  snow  from 
heaven,  and  returneth  not  thither,  but  watereth  the  earth  and 
maketh  it  bring  forth  and  bud,  that  it  may  give  seed  to  the  sower, 
and  bread  to  the  eater,  so  shall  my  word  be  that  goeth  forth  out 
of  my  mouth;  it  shall  not  return  unto  me  void,  but  it  shall  ac- 
complish that  which  I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing 
whereunto  I  sent  it."  (Isa.  Iv.  9.)  God's  truth  is  even  pledged 
upon  oath  for  man's  salvation.  (Isa.  xlv.  23.)  The  reason  for  its 
being  so  confirmed,  is  thus  explained  by  the  apostle,  "  For  men 
verily  swear  by  the  greater,  and  an  oath  for  confirmation  is  to 
them  an  end  of  all  strife ;  wherein  God,  willing  more  abundantly 
to  show  unto  the  heirs  of  promise  the  immutability  of  his  coun- 
sel, confirmed  it  by  an  oath ;  that  by  two  immutable  things,  in 
which  it  was  impossible  for  God  to  lie,  we  might  have  a  strong 
consolation,  who  have  fled  for  refuge,  to  lay  hold  of  the  hope  set 
before  us."  (Heb.  vi.  16.)  After  all  which,  Arminianism  makes 
the  whole  matter  to  depend  on  some  ifs,  huts,  excepts,  provideds, 
&c.  And  these  subjunctives  can  never  be  made  positives  by  our 
own  agency,  but  by  the  direct  agency  of  Jehovah  alone — when,  and 
in  regard  to  whom,  he  shall  see  fit  to  exert  it!  What  assurance 
then  can  we  individually  have  for  ourselves  after  all  1 

There  are  in  the  scriptures,  unquestionably,  some  conditional 


64  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

promises ;  these  all,  however,  respect  our  situation  in  time^  and 
in  no  case  extend  their  reference  to  eternity.  Salvation,  through 
faith,  takes  place  during  the  present  existence  of  the  believer. 
"  He  that  believeth  on  me  HATH  everlasting  life."  (John  iii.  36.) 
And  damnation,  through  unbelief,  takes  place  during  the  joreseni 
existence  of  the  unbeliever.  "  He  that  believeth  not  IS  con- 
demned already."  (John  iii.  18.)  The  promises  which  respect 
man's  condition  beyond  death  are  absolute — as  already  said,  they 
rest  on  no  contingents;  they  are  called  "exceeding  great  and 
precious."  (2  Pet.  i.  4.)  And  the  covenant  containing  them, 
as  compared  with  the  Jewish  covenant  of  works,  is  called  "a 
better  covenant,  founded  upon  better  promises."  (Heb.  viii.  6.) 
These  are  not  conditional,  for  the  promises  of'God  through  Christ 
are  not  "yea  and  nay ;"  they  are  not  may  he  and  may  not  he ;  but 
"  in  him  all  the  promises  of  God  are  yea,  and  in  him  amen,  to  the 
glory  of  God  by  us."  (2  Cor.  i.  21.)  "Behold  the  days  come, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  covenant  with  the  house 
of  Israel  and  with  the  house  of  Judah;  not  according  to  the  cov- 
enant that  I  made  with  their  fathers  when  I  took  them  by  the 
hand  to  lead  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  because  they  con- 
tinued not  in  my  covenant,  and  I  regarded  them  not,  saith  the 
Lord."  [The  fault  found  with  the  old  covenant,  it  seems  from 
this  text,  was  its  condiiionnlity,  which  rendered  its  blessings  very 
insecure,  having  only  the  frail  dependance  of  human  faithfulness.] 
"But  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  make  with  the  house  of 
Israel  after  those  days,  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  minds,  and 
write  them  in  their  hearts,  and  I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they 
shall  be  to  me  a  people."  [If  it  be  considered  a  term  in  this 
promise,  that  the  subjects  are  to  have  God's  laws  in  their  minds, 
is  not  God  pledged  to  put  them  there?  If  they  are  required  to 
be  God's  people,  is  he  not  bound  by  covenant  to  make  them 
such  ?  As,  then,  the  conditions  depend  on  God  for  fulfilment, 
they  cannot  ultimately  fail  in  regard  to  any  of  the  subjects,  as  is 
manifest  from  what  follows  :]  "  And  they  shall  not  teach  every 
man  his  neighbour,  and  every  man  his  brother,  know  the  Lord, 
for  ALL  shall  know  me  from  the  least  unto  the  greatest,  for  I 
will  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteousness;  and  their  sins  and 
their  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more."  (Heb.  viii.  8 — 12.) 
A  promise  could  not  be  more  absolute  in  its  character,  and  of  this 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  G5 

our  opponents  seem  well  aware ;  hence  they  seem  anxious  to 
limit  its  application  to  believers.  "The  house  of  Israel,"  say 
they,  "  spiritually  means  the  church."  And  does  "  the  house  of 
Judah"  also  mean  the  church  1  and  was  it  the  "  fathers"  of  the 
church  which  "  continued  not  in"  God's  covenant,  and  were 
therefore  not  "  regarded  ]"  What  trifling  with  the  sacred  oracles 
is  this !  And  now,  I  beg  to  know,  if  God  will  unconditionally 
save  the  Jewish  nation,  will  he  not  save  all  the  nations  on  the 
same  grounds'?  or  is  he  a  respecter  of  nations'? 

The  very  key-stone  of  the  gospel  arch  seems  to  be  the  promise 
made  by  God  to  Abraham,  that  in  his  seed  all  mankind  shall  be 
blessed  ;  this  is  frequently  adverted  to  in  the  new  testament,  in 
such  terms  as  sufl^iciently  show  the  great  importance  the  inspired 
writers  attached  to  it;  Paul  emphatically  calls  it  the  gospel, 
(Gal.  iii.  8.)  and  Peter,  with  equal  emphasis,  calls  it  the  promise, 
(Acts.  ii.  39.)  and  the  covenant  made  with  the  fathers,  (ibid.  iii.  25.) 
It  is  indeed  a  promise  of  promises  :  its  manifest  import  is,  that 
all  nations,  families,  kindreds,  to  whom  have  extended  the  curse 
of  sin  and  its  concomitant  moral  death,  shall  experience  a 
redemption  therefrom,  and  be  blessed  with  Christ  Jesus  their 
head.  The  revelation  of  this  great  truth  is  "  glad  tidings  of 
great  joy  which  shall  he  unto  all  people,"  (Luke  ii.  10.)  It  was 
the  prime  theme  of  preaching  in  the  infancy  of  Christianity,  and 
it  caused  the  hearts  of  those  that  heard  it  to  bound  with  glad- 
ness. To  doubt  the  eventual  fulfilment  of  this  promise  is  to  make 
God  a  liar,  (1  John  v.  10.)  it  is  to  refuse  credence  to  the  record 
which  he  giveth  of  his  son,  "  and  this  is  the  record,  that  God 
hath  given  unto  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life  is  in  his  son,"  (ibid.) 
hence  he  is  said  in  the  scripture  to  have  given  his  son  "  to  be  the 
life  of  the  world,"  (viii.  24.)  and  Jesus  calls  himself  "  the  bread 
of  God  which  cometh  down  from  heaven,  and  giveth  life  to 
the  world."  (John  vi.  33.)  The  primitive  believers  rested  in 
hope  of  that  eternal  life,  which  God,  that  cannot  lie,  promised 
before  the  world  began,  (Titus  ii.  2.)  and  this  promise  was  not 
hypothetical,  or  conditional,  but  absolute,  "  not  according  to  our 
works,  but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  were 
given  us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began."  (2  Tim.  i.  9.) 
Could  unconditionality  be  more  strongly  expressed  ? 

It  may  be  objected,  that  this  record  is  true  only  with  regard  to 

Vol.  I.— f  2 


60  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM, 

the  believer;  but  if  so,  how  does  the  unbeliever  by  refusing 
credence  to  it  make  God  a  liar?  for  he  only  treats  as  talse  that 
which  (according  to  the  objection)  actually  is  so  as  it  respects 
himself!  It  is  then  a  clear  case  that  our  belief  or  unbelief  can- 
not affect  the  truth  of  the  record  ;  it  was  a  verity  from  everlast- 
ing, and  to  everlasting  it  must  remain  a  verity  ;  and  we  are 
required  to  believe  it,  not  to  make  it  true,  but  because  it  is  so ; 
so  soon  as  this  record  is  believed,  its  reality  is  verified,  hence 
the  believer  is  said  to  have  "  passed  from  death  unto  life," 
(John.  v.  24.)  he  "Aa/^  everlasting  life,"  (ibid.  iii.  36.)  it  was  his 
before  he  realized  it ;  the  gift  of  God  made  it  his,  and  the  truth 
of  God  declared  it  his,  and  faith  in  the  record  at  length  brought 
him  into  possession  of  it. 

But  some  will  here  inquire,  Suppose  the  unbeliever  should  to 
all  eternity  treat  the  record  as  false,  will  he  not  in  that  case  fail 
ever  to  experience  its  verity  1  The  supposition  implies  a  contra- 
diction, for  if  by  any  means  an  individual  shall  fail  to  enjoy 
the  blessing  communicated  in  the  gospel,  it  will  prove  as  it 
respects  that  individual  a  falsehood,  and  if  a  falsehood,  his  unbe- 
lief in  it  can  be  no  crime,  but  rather  a  virtue. 

Some  of  the  subjects  of  a  certain  wise  and  benevolent  king, 
having  been  informed  that  he  is  a  tyrant,  rebel  against  his  gov- 
ernment, but  being  weak,  and  unable  to  resist  his  power,  they 
are  soon  brought  to  experience  that  they  lie  entirely  at  his  mercy ; 
they  are  now  filled  with  the  most  dreadful  apprehensions;  they 
imagine  that  he  will  execute  his  vengeance  upon  them  in  every 
horrid  form;  some  he  will  burn  alive,  others  he  will  break  upor 
the  wheel,  &c.  Poor  creatures  !  they  have  greatly  mistaken  the 
character  of  their  king,  for  he  has  no  such  cruel  intentions.  On 
the  contrary  he  resolves  to  subdue  them  by  the  force  of  love; 
to  overcome  their  evil  with  his  goodness  ;  he  accordingly  writes 
an  act  of  pardon  in  their  behalf,  and  sets  the  royal  signature 
to  it,  at  the  same  time  commissioning  an  ambassador  to  carry 
them  the  joyous  intelligence.  But  suppose  that  some  of  them 
will  refuse  to  credit  the  message,  what  then  1  Will  he  falsify 
his  word  ?  will  he  prove  himself  vindictive  because  they  in 
their  blindness  suppose  him  so?  That  would  be  a  strange 
method,  surely,  of  vindicating  his  character  and  the  truths 
of  his  message !    Yet,  thus  acting,  he  would  but  imitate  the 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.      67 

conduct  which  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  ascribes  to  the 
sovereign  of  the  universe. 

Or,  to  change  the  figure,  a  certain  wealthy  man,  hearing  that  a 
poor  debtor  of  his  is  in  great  distress,  from  an  apprehension  that 
his  little  all  is  about  to  be  seized  to  satisfy  the  claim  against 
him,  sends  a  written  assurance  to  his  poor  friend  that  he  has 
forgiven  him  the  whole  debt,  and  professing  in  strong  terras  his 
kind  dispositions  towards  him  :  the  debtor,  however,  refuses  to 
credit  these  benevolent  assurances,  as  they  disagree  with  ttie 
ideas  he  has  received  of  his  creditor's  character :  whereupon  the 
other  gets  angry,  prosecutes  the  debt,  and  in  default  of  payment 
casts  the  poor  man  into  prison.  Does  not  the  conduct  of  the 
creditor  in  this  case  justify  the  poor  man's  unbelief  in  his  kind 
professions  1  It  undeniably  does  ;  it  proves  that  the  other  would 
have  been  unsafe  in  relying  upon  any  promises  of  his. 

To  apply  these  cases.  Will  God  act  cruelly  because  we  think 
him  cruel  1  Will  his  truth  become  a  fahehood  because  we  treat 
it  as  such  1  Will  he  belie  his  own  record,  by  eternally  damning 
those  to  whom  he  hath  given  eternal  life  ?  And  will  he  do  this 
because  we  foolishly  refuse  credence  to  that  record  ?  A  most 
sagacious  method  of  vindicating  its  verity,  unquestionably. 

Thus  we  have  seen  that  every  attribute  of  Jehovah  yields 
conclusions,  the  most  clear  and  undoubted,  in  favour  of  the 
eventual  salvation  of  all  mankind.  How  could  a  suspicion  to  the 
contrary  be  entertained  for  a  single  moment"?  seeing  that  God  is 
one  and  undivided,  and  all  the  perfections  of  his  nature  are  in 
harmony  with  each  other.  His  justice  is  as  much  opposed  to  the 
endless  reign  of  inji^stice  as  is  his  holiness  to  the  ceaseless  dura- 
tion of  sin,  or  his  love  to  the  eternal  continuance  of  hatred^  or 
his  mercy  to  that  of  cruelty  ;  his  goodness  to  that  of  evil,  and 
his  truth  to  that  of  error.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  for  these 
infinite  attributes  to  overcome  their  opposites;  the  latter  being 
finite,  and  not  allowed  even  a  present  existence /or  their  own  sake  ; 
but  with  reference  to  some  ultimate  good  to  be  brought  about  by 
their  means.  How  ought  we  to  rejoice  and  take  courage  from  the 
fact,  that  our  heavenly  father's  character  is  pledged  for  our  final 
good  !  And  how  valuable  ought  we  to  esteem  that  revelation  of 
himself  to  the  world  through  Jesus  Christ,  by  means  of  which 
yre  arrive  at  this  glorious  assurance!    What  a  soothing  and 


68  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

peaceful  influence  does  this  assurance  breathe  through  the  soul ! 
Amid  the  darkness  and  dreariness  of  life,  its  language  is, 


-"  yet  bear  up  awhile, 


And  what  thy  bounded  view  (which  only  saw 
A  Uttle  part)  deem'd  evil,  is  no  more, 
The  storms  of  wintry  time  will  quickly  pass, 
And  one  unbounded  spring  encircle  all." 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  LAW  OF  GOD. 

This  subject  is  so  apt  to  be  introduced  in  controversies  of  this 
nature,  that  I  have  thought  proper  to  consider  it  at  some  length,  and 
to  assign  it  a  distinct  place  in  this  investigation  :  especially  as  the 
opponents  of  universalism,  w^hen  compelled  by  arguments  from  the 
attributes  of  God  to  abandon  the  hope  of  finding  countenance  to 
their  theory  in  that  quarter,  are  prone  to  have  recourse  to  his  law^ 
and  to  make  it  responsible  for  the  severity  of  the  sinner's  doom,  as 
if  the  law  could  exist  independently  of  the  legislator !  "  God,  to 
be  sure,"  say  they,  "  is  infinitely  good,  and  no  wise  disposed  in 
and  of  himself  to  inflict  upon  his  creatures  so  horrible  a  punish- 
ment, but  his  law  imperiously  requires  such  a  satisfaction  upon 
its  violators,  and  except  its  demands  are  met  to  the  full,  the 
order  and  harmony  of  the  divine  government  cannot  be  maintain- 
ed." Never  did  a  bad  cause  resort  to  a  weaker  fallacy.  "  Is 
there  a  fate  above  the  Gods  1"  Or,  to  christianize  the  question, 
is  there  a  law  in  the  government  of  Jehovah  which  he  himself 
cannot  control  1  and  in  contrariety  to  his  purpose  and  pleasure 
will  the  destinies  of  millions  of  millions  be'fixed  by  tnis  uncon- 
trollable pow'er  in  irreversible  perdition  %  Then  indeed  is  the 
creator  to  be  pitied  :  since  none  more  than  he  will  deplore — and 
unavailingly  deplore — the  ruin  brought  upon  his  creatures  by 
this  relentless  law  !  Yet,  even  in  this  view  of  the  case,  he  is 
not  wholly  exonerated  from  blame  for  having  created  beings  in 
view  of  this  result;  and  him,  therefore,  after  all,  and  not  his  law, 
must  they  hold  as  primarily  responsible  for  their  miseries. 

Theological  system-builders  tell  us  that  the  law  of  God  is 
infinite.  Why  ?  Because  it  is  God^s  law.  All  things  are  God's. 
Are  all  things  therefore  infinite  1    If  so,  they  are  equal  to  one 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  LAW  OF  GOD.  69 

another  and  to  him  that  made  them  !  Its  requirements  too,  they 
tell  us,  are  infinite  in  regard  to  all  intelligences.  It  follows  then, 
that  as  much  is  required  of  persons  of  small,  as  of  large  abili- 
ties— as  much  of  the  ignorant  as  of  the  learned — of  a  child  as 
of  a  man — of  a  man  as  of  an  angel  !  If  these  wise  men  had 
been  at  the  pains  ot  consulting  the  bible  it  would  have  informed 
them,  that  "  Unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  much 
be  required,"  (Mat.  xii.  48.)  and  that  in  regard  to  every  service, 
as  well  as  that  of  which  the  apostle  here  particularly  speaks,  "  if 
there  be  first  a  willing  mind  it  is  accepted  according  to  that  a 
man  hath^  and  not  according  to  that  he  hath  710/,"  (2.  Cor.  viii, 
12.)  which,  all  the  universe  over,  must  be  admitted  as  a  fair  and 
equal  principle  of  legislation  and  government. 

Proceeding  on,  for  one  step  in  error  usually  prepares  the  way 
for  another,  they  assume  that  an  infraction  of  this  infinite  law  is  an 
infinite  offence  ;  which  being  the  case,  a// offences  must  be  infinite, 
for  all  are  violations  of  the  same  law,  and,  therefore,  all  offences, 
■whether  committed  by  a  wise  man  or  a  fool — a  lord  or  his  slave — 
by  one  possessing  great,  or  another  possessing  small  advantages 
— whether  committed  in  the  blaze  of  gospel  day,  or  in  the  gloom 
of  pagan  night — ^under  strong,  or  under  weak  temptations — attend- 
ed with  aggravating,  or  with  mitigating  circumstances — all  are 
equal  !  Nor  is  this  the  worst  consequence,  for  if  one  sin  is  infi- 
nite, then  it  is  equal  to  all  the  sins  together  that  have  ever  been 
committed,  for  all  together  can  make  no  more  than  an  infinity. 
The  school-boy  who  defrauds  his  fellow  in  a  game  of  push-pins, 
in  violating  an  infinite  law,  and  thereby  contracting  guilt  corres- 
ponding in  turpitude  to  the  dignity  of  the  law  sinned  against, 
draws  down  upon  his  soul  as  much  condemnation  as  though  he 
had  denied,  betrayed,  and  crucified  the  son  of  God  !  or  as  though 
he  had  in  his  own  person  committed  every  crime  that  has  ever 
been  perpetrated  since  time  began!  Upon  my  word,  persons 
who  can  believe  all  this  must  have  an  easy  credulity  ! 

But  further ;  the  offence  being  infinite,  the  punishment,  we  are 
told,  must  also  be  infinite.  This  is  the  philosophical  ground- 
work— the  rationale  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery.  It  hence 
follows  that  he  who  knew  his  Lord's  will  and  failed  to  do  it,  will 
be  beaten  with  no  more  stripes  than  he  will  who  knew  it  not ! 
See  a  beautiful  confirmation  of  this  rare  divinity  in  Luke  xii.  47. 


70  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

A  punishment  that  is  infinite  in  all  cases,  can  be  no  greater  in  one 
case  than  in  another  :  how  greatly  then  was  Paul  deceived  in 
supposing  that  crimes  committed  under  the  gospel,  demanded 
greater  punishment  than  did  those  committed  under  the  law  ! 
"  He  that  despised  Moses'  law  died  without  mercy  under  two  or 
three  witnesses  :  of  how  much  sorer  punishment,  suppose  ye, 
shall  he  be  thought  worthy,  who  hath  trodden  under  foot  the  son 
of  God,  and  hath  accounted  the  blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith 
he  was  sanctified  an  unholy  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto  the 
spirit  of  grace?"*  (Heb.  x.  28,  29.)  Moreover,  Christ  informed 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees  that  they  should  receive  the  greater  dam- 
nation, (Mat.  xxiii.  14.)  and  a  greater,  if  any  dependence  may  be 
placed  on  logic,  implies  a  less.  That  there  are  degrees  in  punish- 
ment, then,  is  a  doctrine  of  undoubted  scriptural  sanction,  and  it 
hence  follows  that  it  is  not  infinite,  for  infinity  admits  of  no  degrees. 

The  law  of  God,  speaking  of  it  not  in  a  particular,  but  in  a 
general  sense,  is  a  copy  of  his  eternal  perfections — is  a  necessary 
emanation  from  his  pure  and  holy  nature :  to  understand  its  char- 
acter, therefore,  we  have  but  to  know  that  of  its  author.  Is  he 
good  ?  so  is  it.  (Rom.  vii.  12.  16.)  Is  he  holy  ?  It  also  is  holy, 
(ibid.)  Is  he  pure?  It  also  is  pure.  (Psl.  xix. 8.)  Is  he  love? 
His  law  is  love  likewise.  (Mat.  xix.  40.)  Is  he  just?  It  too  is 
just.  (Rom.  vii.  12.)  Is  he  perfect?  His  law  is  perfect  also. 
(Psl.  xix.  7.)  On  his  law,  therefore,  the  divine  Being  has 
stamped  the  impress  of  himself.  No  thinking  man  will  hesitate 
a  moment  to  admit  this  fact. 

All  wise  and  just  law  is  instituted  for  the  benefit  of  the  govern- 
ed ;  human  laws,  as  they  emanate  from  imperfect  beings,  often 
lose  sight  of  this  end ;  and  by  as  much  as  they  do,  they  are 
unwise  and  unjust — sometimes  the  offspring  of  tyranny — some- 
times of  caprice,  interest,  conceited  ignorance,  or  misdirected 
benevolence — but  always  marked  with  the  imperfection  of  their 
authors.     God's  law,  on  the  contrary,  is  absolutely  perfect,  and 

*  The  intenlion  of  the  apostle's  argument  here  is,  that  as  there  was  no  escape  for 
those  who  committed  the  highest  class  of  offences  under  the  law,  so  apostates  from 
Christ,  being  still  more  deserving  of  punishment,  as  they  sinned  against  greater 
obligations,  should  more  certainly  and  more  terribly  perish,  in  the  judgements  then 
impending  over  the  obstinate  enemies  of  Christ's  cause.  It  is  .as  though  a  judge 
should  say  in  passing  sentence  on  a  criminal,  "You  must  not  hope  that  executive 
clemency  will  be  exercised  in  your  case  ;  for  if  such  an  one  escaped  not,  who  com- 
mitted a  similar  act  with  less  atrocity  in  the  manner,  and  under  less  ajriravated  cir- 
cumstances, of  how  much  sorer  punishment  must  you  be  thought  worthy,  who  havo 
slaughtered  a  fellow  being  in  a  most  cruel  manner,  and  in  cool  blood." 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  LAW  OF  GOD.  71 

must  succeed  in  effecting  the  final  good  of  all  for  whose  behoof 
it  was  instituted.*  Deny  this,  and  you  deny  the  plainest  dictates 
of  common  sense.  The  penalties  of  this  law — how  severe 
soever — must  be  compatible  with  this  design;  for  a  greater 
absurdity  could  not  exist  in  terms  than  the  declaration,  that  the 
penalties  of  an  infinitely  perfect  law  are  such  as  will  defeat  its 
own  ends.  The  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  therefore,  is  an  ab- 
surdity in  terms. 

The  quibbler  may  essay  to  evade  the  above  conclusion  by 
affirming  that  if  the  general  good  be  secured,  (even  at  the  ex- 
pense of  a  certain  amount  of  private  good,)  the  original  object 
of  the  law  will  be  answered,  in  like  manner  as  human  govern- 
ments frequently  find  it  necessary  to  sacrifice  guilty  individuals 
in  order  to  secure  the  public  weal.  But  this  plea  is  not  valid: 
human  governments  are  extremely  defective — yet  even  they,  in 
proportion  as  they  are  wise  and  just,  aim  at  the  universal  good ; 
if  they  fail  of  effecting  this  end,  it  is  from  want  of  power; 
when  they  sacrifice  individuals  they  plead  necessity  for  the  act; 
but  as  men  advance  in  enlightenment,  they  discover  this  plea  to 
have  no  foundation  in  fact,  and,  consequently,  amongst  the  most 
refined  nations  capital  punishments  are  grown  into  disrepute. 
Whether  in  human  governments  this  necessity  does,  or  does  not 
exist,  it  certainly  does  not  in  the  government  of  God.  Does  he 
love  every  indivibual  ?  Then  his  law  respects  the  final  good  of 
every  individual.  Is  that  law  perfect  ?  Then  all  its  proposed 
ends  must  infallibly  be  effected.  Universal  salvation  results  of 
course.  But  let  us  go  to  the  scriptures  once  more.  "  Think 
not,"  saith  Christ,  "  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  and  the 
prophets ;  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil,  for  verily  I  say 
unto  you,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot,  or  one  tittle,  shall  in 
no  wise  pass  from  the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled."  (Mat.  v.  17.  18.) 
That  this  has  not  reference  to  the  Jewish  ceremonial  law  is  obvi- 
ous, for  it  Christ  did  come  to  abolish,  as  saith  Paul,  "  The  law 
was  our  school-master  to  bring  us  unto  Christ,  but  after  that  faith 
is  come  we  are  no  longer  under  a  school-master."  (Gal.  iii.  24.) 
It  was  the  moral  law  which  Christ  came  to  fulfil,  and  how  is  it  to 


*  It  is  not  strictly  proper  to  speak  of  the  divine  law  as  having  been  instituted,  for 
like  himself  it  must  have  been  from  eternity ;  being,  aa  already  remarked,  a  neces- 
sary emajiation  from  his  all  perfect  nature. 


72  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

be  fulfilled  ?  By  every  individual  being  brought  to  comply  with 
its  requirements ;  and  what  are  these  ?  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  mind  ;  this  is  the  first  and  great  command,  and  the  second 
is  like  unto  it;  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself;  on 
these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets." 
(Mat.  xxii.  37.  40.)  To  the  same  purpose  speaketh  James,  "If 
ye  fulfil  the  royal  law ;  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy- 
self, ye  shall  do  well,"  (Jam.  ii.  8.)  and^  Paul  likewise,  "  Love 
worketh  no  ill  to  its  neighbour,  therefore  love  is  the  fulfilling  of 
the  law."  (Rom.  xiii.  9.)  On  every  being  in  the  universe  must 
this  law  be  equally  binding — all,  however,  are  not  equally  capa- 
ble of  understanding  its  claims,  and,  consequently,  the  obliga- 
tions of  all  in  regard  to  it  are  not  equal,  nor  for  the  same  reason 
is  a  noncompliance  with  it  equally  culpable  in  all — for  culpability 
is  in  proportion  to  the  obligations  violated — and  the  obligations  of 
each  are  in  proportion  to  the  capacity  and  opportunities  of  each. 
However,  if  not  one  jot  or  little  is  to  pass  from  the  law  till  all 
be  fulfilled,  it  follows  that  all  are  to  be  brought  eventually  to 
comply  with  its  requirements,  in  loving  God  supremely,  and 
each  other  as  themselves.  Hence  we  again  arrive  at  the  result 
that  all  mankind  shall  be  saved. 

Those  who,  in  the  effort  to  screen  God  from  blame  in  the  busi- 
ness of  endless  punishment,  are  in  the  habit  of  referring  it  to  the 
inexorable  character  of  his  law,  usually  attempt  to  illustrate  the 
matter  by  the  example  of  Zeleucus  the  lawgiver.  To  one  of  his 
statutes  was  appended  the  penalty  of  the  loss  of  both  eyes  on  the 
part  of  its  transgressor;  it  turned  out  that  his  own  son  was  the 
first  among  his  subjects  to  incur  this  heavy  doom;  the  king,  as 
may  be  believed,  was  much  afflicted  at  the  circumstance,  that  his 
only  heir  and  presumptive  successor  in  the  government,  should  be 
subjected  to  a  punishment  which  would  forever  blast  his  expecta- 
tions in  life  ;  yet  the  penalty  must  be  inflicted,  or  his  laws  would 
sink  into  contempt.  He  therefore  determined  at  length  to  yield 
to  the  violated  statute  the  two  eyes  which  it  demanded  ;  but 
instead  of  having  both  taken  from  his  son  he  shared  the  punish- 
ment with  him,  and  yielded  one  of  his  own  !  By  this  means,  we 
are  told,  he  secured  the  most  unbounded  respect  of  his  subjects 
toward  himself  and  government. 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  LAW  OF  GOD.  73 

The  conduct  imputed  to  Zeleucus  may  have  been  well  enough 
on  his  part,  but  would  it  be  suitable  to  the  wisdom — the  justice — 
the  benevolence,  of  the  legislator  of  heaven  and  earth  1  In  the 
statute-book  of  his  dominion,  there  surely  exists  no  law,  the  ope- 
ration of  which  he  will  have  cause  to  deplore.  One  necessary 
cause  of  the  impotence  of  human  law  is,  that  its  penalties  are 
arhitrary — by  which  I  mean  that  they  do  not  grow  out  of  the  of- 
fence— their  only  connexion  with  it  being  the  result  of  positive 
enactment.  They,  therefore,  seldom  tend  to  amend  the  subject, 
or  even  to  prevent  others  from  committing,  or  the  subject  from 
repeating  the  same  crime.  They,  moreover,  fail  of  making  any 
amends  to  the  statute  violated,  or  the  party  or  parties  injured  there- 
by. The  law  of  Zeleucus  was  characterized  by  all  these  defects, 
and  according  to  the  theory  of  endless  suffering,  such  are  also  the 
characteristics  of  the  law  of  Heaven.  For,  is  it  pretended  that 
between  the  sinful  acts  of  men,  and  their  suffering  in  ceaseless 
fire,  there  is  any  necessary  connexion  1  If  not,  then  the  penalty 
is  arbitrary.  Is  it  pretended  that  it  will  yield  reparation  to  the 
violated  law  ?  or  to  the  party  or  parties  sinned  against  ?  or  will 
it  tend  to  the  emendation  of  the  sufferer  ?  or  to  deter  others  from 
imitating  his  example  %  If  neither  of  these,  then  is  it  not  most 
undeniably  a  gratuitous  cruelty. 

But  it  will  be  said,  perhaps,  that  I  lose  sight  in  this  argument 
of  the  main  object  of  punishment,  viz.,  that  of  rendering  satis- 
faction to  the  law.  But  I  deny  that  the  law  is  satisfied  with  the 
punishment  of  its  violator,  for  punishment  is  not  an  end  in  legis- 
lation, it  is  but  a  meam  to  an  end — the  end  itself  is  obedience.  It 
is  the  essence  of  silliness  to  suppose  that  the  law  will  rest  satis- 
fied with  the  means,  while  the  end  is  unaccomplished.  But  the 
theory  of  ceaseless  suffering  supposes  this.  Therefore,  said 
theory  is  the  essence  of  silliness.  Is  the  physician  satisfied 
with  the  ministry  of  medicine  to  a  patient,  without  reference  to 
his  cure  %  Or  the  farmer  with  the  putting  in  of  his  seed  without 
reference  to  a  harvest  ? 

If  God's  law  has  not  respect  to  the  ultimate  good  of  the  pun- 
ished, then,  as  it  regards  him,  it  is  not  benevolent — and  if  not 
benevolent,  it  is  also  not  just.     If  it  has  respect  to  his  final  good 
this*  will  be  the  issue   of  its  operations   with   regard  to  him 
Either  this  conclusion  is  just,  or  the  law  is  imperfect;  but  the 

Vol.  L—G  No.  4. 


74  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

law  is  not  imperfect ;  therefore  the  conclusion  is  just.  Logic, 
then,  brings  us  to  the  very  truth  attested  by  the  saviour,  and 
before  quoted,  viz.,  that  the  law  of  God,  in  every  jot  and  tittle, 
which  is  love  to  God  and  to  our  neighbors,  shall  infallibly  be 
fulfilled,  in  the  universal  obedience  of  all  the  intelligences  for 
whose  behoof  it  exists. 

I  ask  now,  are  the  penalties  annexed  to  this  law,  such  as  will 
defeat  its  intentions,  and  render  impossible  its  fulfilment  1  They 
certainly  are,  if  the  theory  of  unceasing  punishment  be  true,  for 
in  that  case,  myriads  of  myriads  of  beings  will  eternally  remain 
in  a  state  of  rebellion  against  God,  and  of  enmity  toward  each 
other.  To  render  the  absurdity  of  this  still  more  glaring,  we 
will  again  have  recourse  to  comparison. 

A  preceptor,  having  under  his  care  numerous  pupils  of  highly 
respectable  parentage,  is  anxious  to  advance  them  to  the  highest 
possible  state  of  intelligence,  in  order  that  they  may  prove  orna- 
ments to  society,  and  creditable  to  himself  as  their  instructor  ;  he 
accordingly  frames  a  strict  code  of  disciplinary  rules  for  their 
guidance,  and  enacts  among  other  things,  that  any  pupil  who 
shall  for  a  certain  term  of  time  neglect  his  studies,  shall  forever 
thereafter  be  debarred  from  all  means  of  mental  improvement, 
and  be  doomed  to  perpetual  ignorance.  Reader,  can  you  see  any 
fitness  between  such  a  law,  and  the  preceptor's  original  design  ? 
On  the  contrary,  could  he  have  adopted  a  surer  measure  for  its 
frustration  1  And  think  you  that  in  the  government  of  the  uni- 
verse, God  thus  weakly  legislates  against  his  own  purposes? 
You  must  deem  but  meanly  of  his  wisdom  if  you  do. 

The  only  plea  now  remaining  for  endless  misery  connected 
with  this  subject  is,  that  by  its  penal  operations  upon  the  offend- 
er, the  law  will  secure  the  respect  to  which  it  is  entitled.  This 
plea  is  good  as  it  regards  limited  and  emendatory  punishment ; 
but  as  it  regards  that  which  is  endless,  it  is  utterly  void  of 
force,  for  a  law  which  acts  against  its  own  ends — which  respects 
not  the  ultimate  good  of  those  upon  whom  its  penalties  fall — and 
which  is  therefore  blind — weak — vindictive — and  inconsistent — 
is  in  fact  entitled  to  no  respect,  and  can  never  secure  it  from  ra- 
tional beings ;  a  servile  compliance  with  its  mandates,  from 
Hiotives  of  fear,  it  may  indeed  exact,  but  in  that  case  it  can  with 
no  propriety  be  called  "  the  petfect  law  of  Liberty,^*    God's  way 


THOUGHTS  ON  THE  LAW  OF  GOD.  75 

of  securing  respect  for  his  law,  consists  in  his  having  made  it  so 
reasonable  in  itself — so  just — so  pure — so  benevolent — so  every- 
thing that  it  should  be — that  the  mind  truly  enlightened  in  regard 
to  its  nature  and  claims,  cannot  but  choose  to  obey  its  dictates- 
most  cheerfully  and  heartily  to  obey  them :  iif  all  minds  do  not 
now  so  choose,  it  is  because  all  minds  are  not  now  so  enlightened  ; 
but  the  covenant  of  God's  love,  which  promises  to  bless  all  man- 
kind m  Christ  Jesus,  implies  his  purpose  thus  ultimately  to 
enlighten  all,  and  to  bring  all  to  obey  this  law,  as  the  means  of 
that  blessedness.  "  I  will  put  my  law  in  their  minds,"  saith 
God,  as  before  quoted,  "and  will  write  it  in  their  hearts."  And 
then  will  have  come  to  pass  the  prediction  of  the  prophet, 
*'  And  all  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  and  great 
shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children."  (Isaiah  liv.  13.)  "It  is 
written  in  the  prophets.  And  they  shall  be  all  taught  of  God." 
(John,  vi.  45.)  Thus  what  the  prophet  foretold,  Christ  has 
sanctioned. 

How  beautiful,  then,  is  the  light  which  the  scriptures  have 
thrown  upon  this  interesting  subject !  and  how  opposed,  at  every 
step,  are  its  conclusions,  to  the  drear  and  spirit-blighting  theory 
of  endless  suffering !  According  to  their  teaching,  as  before 
shown,  God's  law,  like  himself,  is  love ;  its  perfection  consists 
in  its  adaptedness  to  convert  the  soul.  (Psl.  xix.  7.)  God's  vera- 
city is  pledged  that  he  will  write  on  all  hearts,  (Heb.  viii.  11,  12.) 
and  when  this  is  done,  all  will  obey  it.  "  The  law  of  the  spirit 
of  life  in  Christ  Jesus,"  will  set  them  free  "  from  the  law  of 
sin  and  death,"  (Rom.  viii.  2.)  herein  consists  the  blessedness  of 
the  upright,  that  "  his  delight  is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  in 
his  law  doth  he  meditate  day  and  night."  (Psl.  ii.  2.)  Reader, 
get  possession  of  this  law  of  love,  and  it  will  lead  you  to  visit 
the  fatherless  and  the  widow — to  do  justly,  love  mercy,  and 
walk  humbly  with  God — to  love  your  enemies — to  overcome  evil 
with  good — and  thus  to  assimilate  to  the  character  of  your  father 
in  heaven.  "  Great  peace  have  they  that  love  the  law  of  God,  and 
nothing  shall  offend  them,"  (Psl.  cxix.  165.) 


7d  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 


UNIVERSAL  SALVATION 

DIRECTLY  AND  POSITIVELY  PROVEN  FROM  THE  RELA- 
TIONS OF  GOD  TO  MAN. 

1.  AS  OUR  CREATOR.— He  must  be,  in  a  remote  sense  at 
least,  responsible  for  the  issue  of  our  being,  and  according  as  it 
shall  prove  a  blessing  or  a  curse,  he  may  be  regarded  as  a  bene- 
factor or  an  enemy,  and  we  shall  have  endless  reasons  for  grati- 
tude toward  him,  or  for  resentment.  It  is  vain  to  attempt  an 
evasion  of  this  consequence,  for  if  it  be  said  that  our  misery 
would  not  have  been,  but  for  our  sin,  it  must  also  be  admitted  that 
our  sin  would  not  have  been,  but  for  our  existence,  nor  our  exis- 
tence, but  for  our  creator :  to  this  conclusion,  then,  it  must  come 
at  last,  and  here  it  must  rest.  What  man,  though  ever  so  much 
depraved,  would  consent  to  be  a  parent,  with  the  certain  knowl- 
edge before  him,  that  his  offspring  would  be  a  subject  of  misery 
and  degradation  in  this  life,  and  of  ceaseless  and  hopeless  suffer- 
ing in  another  1  And  provided  he  did  so  consent,  might  not  his 
offspring  justly  account  him  his  foe,  and  hold  him  accountable 
for  all  the  evils  of  his  wretched  being  1  It  would  certainly  not 
avail  the  parent  to  plead  that  he  was  actuated  by  benevolent  mo- 
tives in  conferring  that  existence,  and  that  he  designed  it  should 
prove  a  blessing  to  the  recipient ;  for  how  could  he  have  designed 
that  for  good  which  he  knew  would  prove  an  evil  1  Man,  how- 
ever, though  possessing  the  foresight  supposed,  might  plead  the 
strength  of  his  sensual  inclinations,  and  the  insufficiency  of  his 
moral  principles  of  resistance,  not  in  excuse,  but  in  extenuation 
of  his  pernicious  act ;  but  could  the  divine  character,  in  a  similar 
case,  find  shelter  under  such  a  plea  1  No,  for  "  God  cannot  be 
tempted  with  evil,"  (James  i,  13.)  nor  has  he  sensual  inclinations 
to  gratify. 

"  But,"  inquires  an  objector,  "  may  not  the  creator  have  made 
man  subject  to  the  liabilities  supposed  in  the  doctrine  of  endless 
misery,  with  the  view  of  testing  his  obedience  ? — for  if  man  were 
not  left  to  his  own  election  between  go^od  and  evil,  how  could  his 
virtue  as  a  moral  agent  be  put  to  the  proof?"  A  sheerer  fallacy 
never  perplexed  the  poor  human  brain !     What !  the  almighty 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.   77 

maker  of  man  must  have  recourse  to  tests  to  know  the  qualities 
of  what  he  creates !  It  is  to  be  hoped  then,  that  he  is  made 
■wiser  by  his  experiments  !  But  supposing  such  a  test  necessary, 
still  it  might  have  been  made  without  involving  endless^  and,  there- 
fore, irremediable  consequences.  That  man  is  left  to  his  choice 
between  good  and  bad  is  not  denied  ;  but  it  is  denied  that  infinite 
benevolence  has  suspended  his  weal  or  woe,  for  eternity,  on  so 
frail  and  fickle  a  thing  as  the  human  will — more  especially  as  he 
could  not  but  foresee  the  result  of  such  suspension. 

A  father  having  mixed  a  quantity  of  arsenic  with  some  white 
sugar,  puts  the  compound  into  the  hands  of  his  children,  acquamt- 
ing  them  at  the  same  time  with  its  poisonous  qualities,  and  cau- 
tioning them  against  eating  of  it ;  they,  however,  seduced  by  its 
appearance,  and  detecting  nothing  but  agreeableness  in  the  taste, 
disbelieve,  or  disregard  the  parental  admonition,  allow  their 
appetites  the  dangerous  indulgence,  and  experience  death  as  the 
consequence.  The  neighbours  of  the  father,  hearing  that  the 
children  came  into  possession  of  the  poison  by  his  agency,  inquire 
his  motives  in  arming  his  poor  offspring  with  the  means  of  self- 
destruction.  "  Merely  by  way  of  experiment,"  he  replies,  "  upon 
their  faith  in  my  word,  and  obedience  to  my  commands."  The 
neighbours  inquire  again  if  he  did  not  foresee  the  probable  issue 
of  the  experiment.  "  Yes,"  he  answers,  "  not  only  the  probable, 
but  the  certain  issue,  was  as  clear  to  me  before  the  trial  as  it  is 
since — still,  I  meant  no  harm  to  my  children  by  the  affair ;"  can 
you  not,  reader,  anticipate  the  judgement  of  the  neighbours  upon 
this  cruel  transaction  ?  "  Wretch  !"  mt  thinks  I  hear  them  ex- 
claim, "You  are  guilty  of  the  murder  of  your  children  !  you 
supplied  them  with  the  instrument  of  death,  full  well  knowing 
how  fatally  to  themselves  they  would  employ  it ;  and  now  you 
seek  to  deafen  your  conscience  to  the  voice  of  their  blood  by  the 
weak  plea,  that  you  designed  a  result,  different  from  what  you 
were  assured  would  take  place !  you  are  convicted,  sir,  out  of  your 
own  mouth."  Yet  is  this  contemptible  apology  the  best  that 
can  be  found,  by  the  advocates  of  unending  woe,  for  the  defence 
of  the  divine  character.  God  designed  well  in  creating  those  to 
whom  he  knetu  their  existence  would  prove  an  endless  curse. 

Let  us  conceive  Jehovah  as  existing  alone — in  the  solitude  of 
unpeopled  space.    Stood  he  then  in  need  of  creatures  like  us,  to 

Vol.  L—a  8 


78  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

augment  his  happiness  1 — to  increase  his  power  1 — to  perfect 
his  perfections  1  No  ;  for  infinity  is  insusceptible  of  increase. 
What,  then,  prompted  him  to  create  1  Was  it  the  desire  to  test 
his  creative  skill  1  No  ;  for  omniscience  does  not  gather  knowl- 
edge from  experiments.  The  only  conceivable  motive  in  this 
case  is  that  of  benevolence,  in  order  that  it  might  have  objects  on 
which  to  expand  itself;  being  infinitely  happy  in  himself,  the  crea- 
tor was  prompted  to  produce  sentient  creatures  by  a  propensity  to 
communicate  that  happiness.  And  in  proportion  as  beings  are 
multiplied,  in  that  proportion  are  the  participants  of  that  ex- 
haustless  felicity  also  multiplied.  Here  is  an  end  worthy  of  a 
God !  an  end,  reasonable,  benevolent,  glorious  !  philosophy  ap- 
proves it  as  probable,  religion  as  just  and  true ;  this  is  a  corner- 
stone in  the  universalist  faith,  and  for  want  of  such  a  foundation, 
the  thousand  and  one  theories  in  religion  are  as  unstable  as  the 
ocean's  waves,  and  as  unsubstantial  as  their  foam ;  happily  we 
are  saved  the  labour  of  proving  this  important  point,  by  the  fact 
that  it  is  self-evident,  and,  therefore,  by  no  party  in  theology 
denied  :  yet,  although  none  deny  it  in  terms,  many  do  in  effect — 
for  is  not  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses, a  total  denial  of  it  1 

In  the  deity's  discourse  with  Jonah,  how  affectingly  is  his  rela- 
tion to  man,  as  creator,  urged  as  a  reason  for  the  display  of  his 
mercy.  "  Thou  hast  had  pity  on  the  gourd,  for  the  which  thou 
hast  not  laboured,  neither  madest  it  grow,  which  came  up  in  a 
night,  and  perished  in  a  night ;  And  should  not  I  spare  Nineveh, 
that  great  city,  wherein  are  more  than  six  score  thousand  souls 
that  cannot  discern  between  their  right  hand  and  their  left  hand, 
and  also  much  cattle."  (Jonah  iv.  10,  11.)  The  prophet,  it 
seems,  had  been  more  painfully  affected  about  the  perishing  of  a 
gourd,  because  he  had  found  a  shelter  in  its  shade  from  the  torrid 
sun,  than  about  the  prospective  destruction  of  a  large  city  with 
its  entire  population !  and  inasmuch  as  he  had  predicted  this 
destruction,  he  would  have  preferred  it  should  ensue,  rather  than 
that  his  preaching  should  fall  into  disrepute  !  God,  therefore, 
condescended  to  show  the  callous  prophet  the  ground  of  his  own 
benevolent  interest  in  this  vast  multitude — he  had  (so  to  speak) 
laboured  for  them,  and  made  them  to  grow — they  were  the  work 
of  bis  hands — his  benevolence  had  prompted  him  to  create,  and 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    79 

it  now  prompted  him  to  save  them.  Ye  prophets  of  ceaseless 
woe,  we  may  in  charity  hope  you  will  be  less  pained  in  the  end, 
that  your  preaching  is  falsified  in  the  happy  event  of  a  whole 
world's  salvation,  than  if  it  should  be  verified  in  the  utter  ruin  of 
even  a  solitary  individual.* 

Moses  has  recorded  that  God  saw  all  things,  when  he  had  made 
them,  to  be  very  good,  (Gen.  i.  38.)  implying,  of  course,  that  they 
were  answerable  to  the  benevolent  purposes  for  which  he  had 
created  them.  The  author  of  any  mechanical,  or  other  contri- 
vance, accounts  it  to  be  good  or  bad,  according  as  he  sees  it  is 
or  is  not  adapted  to  meet  his  original  intentions.  God  saw  to 
what  result  his  works  would  come — he  saw  whether  the  utter  and 
irretrievable  damnation  of  myriads  of  beings  would  be  among 
those  results ;  and  if  he  did  indeed  foresee  this  consequence,  and 
yet  in  view  of  it,  pronounced  his  works  "  very  good,"  it  must 
follow  that  he  designed  it,  and  then  of  what  value  are  all  the  scrip- 
tural assurances  of  his  goodness  1 — and  what  credit  is  due  to  them  % 

Moses  has  also  recorded  that  God  blessed  the  first  human  pair, 
and  bade  them  "  multiply  and  replenish  the  earth."  (Gen.  i.  23.) 
For  what  ?  that  hell  might  be  populated  1  for  such,  according  to 
the  dogma  under  consideration,  he  forese^w  would  be  the  case. 
In  the  name  of  God — and  religion — and  consistency — oh  ye  abet- 
tors of  this  dark  creed  !  I  call  upon  you  to  ponder  well  this  im- 
portant matter.  Would  infinite  love  thus  encourage  our  unsus- 
pecting parents  to  multiply  their  kind,  even  to  millions  of 
millions,  to  the  end  that  the  dark  realms  of  unending  woe  should 
be  peopled  ?  Would  not  an  imputation  of  so  odious  a  character, 
add  blackness  to  our  blackest  conceptions  of  cruelty  ?  Surely 
this  encouragement  to  propagate  the  species,  implies  that  the 
divine  benevolence  had  charged  itself  with  their  safe  keeping,  and 
through  whatsoever  vicissitudes  of  sin  and  suffering  the  offspring 

*  It  would,  however,  seem  not,  from  the  feeling  they  often  manifest  on  this  subject. 
Whilst  yet  a  minor,  in  Philadelphia,  I  once  went  to  hear  a  celebrated  orator  declaim 
(declamation  it  proved  in  fact,  argument  in  professimi)  against  the  growing  and 
dangerous  heresy  of  universalism.  I  shall  never  forget  the  following  passage  in  the 
discourse— in  my  boyish  simplicity,  I  thought  it  grand  at  the  time.  "  WTiat !  ad- 
mit the  sinner  into  heaven !  If  Jehovah  could  commit  such  folly  (I  speak  it  with 
reverence)  the  meanest  saint  in  that  bright  realm,  would  rise  indignant  from  his 

f olden  throne,  and  spurn  the  wretch  to  hell !"  Think  of  that  now !  How  beautiful ! 
low  sublime  !  How  viodest  withal !  The  preacher  hijnself  was  not  a  sinner— not 
he :  and  so  being  not  a  sinner,  he  and  his  class  will  doubtless  have  heaven  entirely 
to  themselves  j  for  Chriat  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sai?its,  it  seemB,  not 
fiuineis. 


80  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

of  that  sinning  pair  might  intermediately  pass,  yet  was  it  the 
purpose  of  that  undying  love,  most  faithfully  to  redeem  the  im- 
plied pledge. 

It  is  affirmed  of  God  in  the  scriptures  that  he  "  will  have  a  regard 
to  the  work  of  his  hands,"  (Job  xiv.  15.)  hence  all  his  works  are 
frequently  called  upon — together  with  "  every  thing  that  hath 
breath,  to  praise  the  name  of  the  Lord."  (Psl.  cl.  6.)  I  know 
not  with  what  reason  or  justice  every  creature  can  be  required  to 
praise  God,  except  they  are  to  be  the  gainers  by  the  existence 
which  they  have  received  at  his  hands  :  on  this  ground  it  is  most 
just;  and  most  heartily,  methinks,  will  that  praise  be  accorded 
when  in  the  morning  of  that  immortal  day,  which  is  to  be  signal- 
ised by  the  triumph  of  infinite  love  over  death,  and  darkness,  and 
sin,  they  shall  see  the  mysteries  of  divine  providence  during  the 
night  of  time  unfolded,  and  to  have  issued  by  means  to  them  the 
most  unpromising  in  the  most  happifying  and  perfect  consumma- 
tion ;  then  we  shall  truly  find  all  beings  uniting  in  the  ascription, 
"  Thou  art  worthy,  oh  Lord,  to  receive  glory,  and  honour,  and 
power,  for  thou  hast  created  all  things,  and  for  thy  pleasure  they 
are,  and  were  created."  (Rev.  iv.  11.) 

Men  have  been  much  puzzled,  in  different  ages,  to  account  for 
the  existence  of  evil — they  have  been  at  a  loss  how  to  reconcile 
the  fact  with  the  established  doctrine  of  the  infinite  goodness  of 
the  creator ;  the  Magian,  or  Zoroastic  religion,  (which  prevailed 
throughout  ancient  Chaldea,)  attempted  to  solve  this  mystery,  by 
the  supposition  that  there  are  two  creators,  of  equal,  or  nearly  equal 
power  ;  the  one  the  source  of  all  good,  the  other  the  source  of  all 
evil:  which  doctrine  is  still  substantially  (though  not  avowedly) 
maintained  by  a  majority  of  christians;  who  trace  all  that  is 
good  to  God,  and  all  that  is  bad  to  the  devil !  so  that  the  preva- 
lent christian  creed,  so  far  as  respects  this  particular,  is  but  the 
Magian  creed  revived  in  a  new  form.  But  with  this  advantage 
in, favour  of  the  latter,  that  Zoroaster  taught  that  the  author  of 
all  good  would  eventually  overcome  and  extirpate  the  author  of 
all  evil,  and  goodness  should  then  be  sole,  supreme,  and  univer- 
sal. Whereas  the  class  of  christians  referred  to,  think  that  evil 
will  be  co-eternal  with  good — that  there  will  never,  in  the  bound- 
less future,  be  found  a  remedy  by  infinite  goodness,  for  the  evils 
which  shall  overspread  his  dominions ! 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    81 

The  scriptures  are  most  satisfactory,  most  philosophical,  upon 
this  puzzling  point ;  they  teach  that  "  of  God  are  all  things," 
(Rom.  xi.  36.  1  Cor.  viii.  6.  2  Cor.  v.  18.  Rev.  iv.  11.)  they 
represent  Jehovah  himself  as  saying,  "  I  form  the  light  and 
create  darkness,  I  make  peace  and  create  evil.  I  the  Lord  do  all 
these  things."  (Isaiah  xlv.  7.)  "  Can  there,"  they  ask,  "  be 
evil  in  a  city,  and  the  Lord  hath  not  done  it !"  (Amos  iii.  6.)  and 
again,  "  Shall  we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  shall 
we  not  receive  evil  also  V  (Job  ii.  10.)  "  Affliction  cometh  not 
forth  of  the  dust !"  they  affirm,  "  neither  doth  trouble  spring  out 
of  the  ground."  (Job  v.  6.)  All  these  things  are,  in  the  scrip- 
tures, most  consistently  resolved  into  the  power  and  appointment 
of  Heaven,  for  wise  and  benevolent  ends.  Hence,  they  are  evils 
only  in  a  relative,  not  in  an  absolute  sense — evils  as  they  are  con- 
nected with  our<t  but  not  as  they  are  connected  with  Godh  agency, 
for  what  we  mean  unto  an  evil  result,  God  means  unto  good. 
(Gen.  i.  20.) 

**  Happy  the  man  who  sees  a  God  employ'd 
In  all  the  good  and  ills  that  chequer  life. 
Resolvingr  all  events,  with  their  effects 
And  manifold  results,  into  the  will 
And  arbitration  wise  of  the  Supreme." — Coivper. 

This  is  the  language  of  a  philosophical  christian,  and  it  speaks 
the  religion  and  philosophy  of  the  bible.  We  were  not  designed, 
in  this  mode  of  being,  for  either  moral  ox  physical  perfection — the 
same  creator  who  gave  ferocity  and  an  appetite  for  blood  to  the 
beast  of  prey,  gave  to  man  also  the  passions  and  appetites  which 
prompt  him  to  crime,  and  prove  to  him  frequently  the  sources  of 
that  moral  and  physical  misery  inseparable  from  human  life. 
Man,  however,  is  gifted  with  reason,  to  enable  him  to  restrain 
the  animal  impulses,  and  to  allow  them  such  exercise  only  as 
is  consistent  with  his  duty  and  true  happiness.  God  holds  him 
responsible  for  the  use  he  makes  of  all  this  functions ;  as  his 
moral  principles,  or  his  animal  nature  predominates,  he  assimi- 
lates to  God,  or  to  the  brute,  and  is  accordingly  happy  or  mis- 
erable. 

"  Two  principles  in  human  nature  reign. 
Self-love  to  urge,  and  reason  to  restrain, 
Nor  this  or  good,  nor  that  a  bad  we  call. 
Each  works  its  end  to  rule  or  govern  all." — Pope, 


82  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Paul,  in  plain  prose,  speaks  the  same  truth,  "But  1  see  an- 
other law  in  my  members,  warring  against  the  law  in  my  mind, 
and  bringing  me  into  captivity  to  the  law  of  sin  which  is  in  my 
members."  (Rom.  vii.  23.)  In  all  which  there  is  this  utility,  that 
our  moral  virtue  is  thus  put  to  trial — Good  and  evil — life  and 
death — are  set  before  us — on  our  choice  depends  our  condition — 
not  hereafter,  but  here — and  we  hence  learn  from  experience 
the  happiness  which  flows  from  virtue,  and  the  misery  from  vice ; 
which  experience  is  not  to  be  lost  to  us  when  we  shall  have  de- 
parted this  stage  of  action,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  to  have  a 
beneficial  bearing  upon  our  whole  future  being. 

From  this  view  of  things  we  gather  a  lesson  of  most  cheering 
and  practical  influence  :  we  learn  to  adore  the  perfections  of  our 
creator ;  because  if  nothing  exists  independently  of  him,  then  all 
things  are  subject  to  his  control ;  and  in  what  difiiculties  or  evils 
soever  we  may  become  involved,  his  power  and  grace  are  equal 
to  our  extrication  ;  whatever  is,  is  for  a  wise  and  good  end  ;  and 
for  the  same  end,  man  is  what  he  is,  "  For  the  creature  was  made 
subject  to  vanity,  not  willingly,"  [that  is,  not  by  the  creature's 
will,  for  the  creature  could  have  no  will  in  the  matter  of  its  crea- 
tion,] "  but  by  reason  of  him  who  subjected  the  same  in  hope. 
Because  the  creature  itself  also  shall  be  delivered  from  the  bon- 
dage of  conuption,  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God."  (Rom.  viii.  20,  21.)  Some  have  supposed,  (the  celebra- 
ted John  Wesley  among  them,)  on  the  authority  of  this,  and  a 
few  other  passages,  that  even  the  brute  creation  are  destined  to  a 
future,  and  happier  state  of  existence,  and  I  know  no  good  reason 
why  they  should  not  be,  for  their  present  state  is  one  of  much 
suffering ;  and  with  the  highly  gifted  Bulwer,  (in  a  work  of  his 
entitled  "  The  Student,")  I  deem  it  probable  that  the  all-benefi- 
cent creator,  has  in  reserve  for  them  an  ample  compensation  for 
their  present  sufferings.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  a  matter  of 
inspired  record  that  such  is  the  case  with  regard  to  man.  "  Our 
light  aflflictions  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us  a  far 
more  exceeding,  and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 

From  the  whole,  then,  it  results,  that  we  are  God's  property — 
he  made  us  for  himself— not  for  the  devil — that  we  might  par- 
take, and  reflect,  his  goodness  and  glory — not  that  in  our  ruin  we 
might  reflect  his  cruelty  and  his  disgrace — all  the  attributes  of 


.«r0MENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    83 

his  nature  are  so  many  sufficient  pledges,  that  we  shall  infallibly 
answer  the  beneficent  end  to  which  he  designed  us — while  at  the 
same  lime  they  all  combine  to  assure  us  what  that  end  is — and 
hence,  as  before  remarked,  we  are  under  the  strongest  of  obliga- 
tions to  lift  our  hearts  toward  him  in  confidence  and  love — and  to 
devote  to  his  most  reasonable  service  those  powers  of  body  and 
mind,  which  we  have  received  from  his  forming  hand. 

2.  AS  OUR  FATHER.  Our  opponents  seem  aware  of  the 
consequence  against  their  dogma  to  be  drawn  from  this  relation, 
and  they,  therefore,  deny  its  universality  ,■  "  it  only  exists,"  say 
they,  "  in  regard  to  the  truly  pious ;"  and  they  find  a  number  of 
texts  of  scripture  which  they  think  sanction  this  restriction. 
For  example :  "  As  many  as  are  led  by  the  spirit  of  God,  they 
are  the  sons  of  God,"  (Rom.  viii.  14.)  whence  it  seems  logic- 
ally to  follow,  that  as  many  as  are  not  so  led,  are  not  God's  sons ; 
and  it  is  granted  that  they  certainly  are  not,  in  the  sense  intended. 
They  also  find,  that  while  some  in  the  scriptures  are  addressed 
as,  in  a  particular  sense,  the  children  of  God  ;  others  are  spoken 
of  as  "  the  children  of  the  wicked  one,"  or  "  the  devil."  Hence 
they  actually  maintain  that  mankind  consists  of  two  classes — the 
one  the  offspring  of  God — the  other  of  satan !  Than  which  a 
sentiment  more  odious,  or  more  pernicious  in  its  consequences, 
was  surely  never  adopted ;  a  little  attention  to  scriptural  phrase- 
ology will  set  this  point  in  a  plain  and  satisfactory  light. 

It  is  known  to  every  attentive  biblical  student,  that  in  figura- 
tive language,  a  person  was  said  to  be  the  child  even  of  any 
circumstance  or  abstract  quality,  by  which  he  was  distinguished  ; 
hence  we  read  of  children  of  light — of  the  day — of  darkness — 
of  Belial — of  God — of  this  world — of  the  resurrection — -of  the 
bridegroom — of  the  kingdom — of  perdition — of  affliction — of  cor^ 
solation — of  thunder — oi  peace — of  strife — of  cunning — of  guile — 
&c.  &c.  If  we  are  to  understand  any  of  these  expressions  in  a 
strict  sense,  why  not  all  1  Is  it  not  obvious,  that  neither  of  these 
were  designed  for  a  literal  interpretation? 

A  person  was  also  said  to  be  the  child  of  another,  whose  dis- 
positions or  example  he  copied ;  hence,  Jabal  is  called  "  the 
father  of  such  as  dwell  in  tents  and  have  cattle ;"  Jubal  is  called 
"tne  father  of  such  as  play  upon  the  harp  and  organ  ;"  and  Tubal- 
Cam,  "  the  father  of  all  such  as  work  in  brass  and  iron."  (Gen. 


84  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

iv.  20,  21.)  To  the  proud  and  persecuting  Jews,  Christ  said, 
«*  Ye  are  of  your  father  the  devil,  and  his  works  ye  do,"  (John 
viii.  44.)  "  If  ye  were  Abraham's  children,  ye  would  do  the 
works  of  Abraham."  (ibid.  31.)  Now  in  point  of  fact,  they  were 
Abraham's  children ;  but  they  were  not  so  by  resemblance  of  charac- 
ter, or  in  a  practical  sense  :  so  Christ,  when  he  enjoins  certain 
virtues,  urges  as  a  motive  to  their  performance,  "  that  ye  may  be 
the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  (Mat.  v.  45.) 
By  losing  sight  of  the  figurative  usage  here,  one  would  think  that 
the  party  addressed,  were  not  the  children  of  God — else,  why  are 
they  directed  what  to  do  in  order  to  become  such  ]  But  the 
attentive  reader  will  discover  that  Christ  distinctly  recognises  the 
divine  relation  to  them;  for  he  calls  God  their  "Father  in 
heaven,"  which  implies  of  course  that  they  were  in  reality  his 
offspring,  and  by  practicing  the  virtues  enjoined,  they  would 
become  such  characteristically  or  practically .  To  the  same  amount 
Peter,  after  commending  the  virtues  of  Sarah,  Abraham's  wife, 
adds  by  way  of  encouragement  to  the  women  of  the  churches  to 
which  he  wrote,  "  whose  daughters  ye  are,  so  long  as  ye  do  well." 
(1  Pet.  iii.  6.)  They  would  thus  become  her  imitators,  and, 
according  to  the  usage  of  speech  in  those  times,  her  (laughters. 

We  are  not  by  any  means  free  from  the  same  usage  now ;  it  is 
still  a  common  practice  to  call  the  disciples,  or  imitators  of  anoth- 
er, his  children.  Some  we  call  the  children  of  Calvin — some  of 
Wesley — the  physician  we  term  a  son  of  Esculapius,  or  of  Hippo- 
crates— the  lover  of  music  is  a  son  of  Apollo — the  lover  of  wine 
and  frolic  is  a  son  of  Bacchus — the  shoe-maker  is  a  son  of  Crispin 
— the  sailor  a  son  of  Neptune — the  soldier  a  son  of  Mars — the 
strong  man  a  son  of  Hercules,  &c.  Among  the  wild  mountain 
clans  of  Scotland,  this  usage  was  still  more  prevalent ;  each 
individual,  besides  being  the  child  of  his  chief,  was  also  the 
child  of  whatever  particular  profession  he  followed,  or  circum- 
stance which  distinguished  him. 

It  might  with  the  same  propriety  be  maintained,  that  because 
some  are  termed  sons  of  thunder,  they  were  therefore  generated 
by  an  electrical  explosion  of  the  clouds — or  because  some  are 
termed  children  of  light,  that  they  were  therefore  born  in  the  sun, 
as  to  suppose  that  all  are  not  the  children  of  God,  because  of 
some  being  metaphorically  termed  "  the  children  of  the  wicked 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.   85 

one."  Truth  is,  that  God  is  equally  the  father  of  every  individ- 
ual, but  while  the  christian  has  within  himself  the  evidence  of 
this  fact,  and  it  is  a  source  of  peace  and  rejoicing  to  him ;  the 
wicked  man  is  ignorant  of  it — is  "  without  God,  and  without 
hope  in  the  world."  Plain  as  this  point  is,  however,  in  itself, 
I  am  not  disposed  to  beg  its  admission  by  the  reader  without 
proof,  and  therefore  present  the  following  circumstances  in  evi- 
dence. 

1.  We  are  equally  the  descendants  of  Adam,  and  he  in  the 
scriptures  is  termed  "  the  son  of  God."  (Luke  iii.  28.)  Surely 
if  the  original  stream  is  related  to  the  fountain  whence  it  flowed, 
all  the  branches  into  which  it  has  ramified,  are  equally  related  to 
it.  2.  It  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of  all  to  pray,  and  Christ 
directs,  "  when  ye  pray,  say  our  Father  who  art  in  heaven." 
(Mat.  vi.  9.)  Christ  would  certainly  noi  authorize  our  calling 
God  what  he  is  not !  3.  Our  spirits  have  a  common  source ; 
hence,  God  is  called  the  "  father  of  our  spirits,"  (Heb.  xii.  9.) 
and  "  the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh."  (Num.  xvi.  22.) 
4.  They  have  also  a  common  destination  ;  for  "  when  the  body 
returns  to  the  dust  whence  it  came,  the  spirit  shall  return  to  the 
God  that  gave  it."  (Eccle.  xii.  7.)  5.  We  are  all  corporeally  com- 
pounded of  the  same  materials ;  "  for  God  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men,  to  dwell  upon  all  the  face  of  the  earth,"  (Acts 
xvii.  25.)  and  "  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being," 
(ibid.)  6.  The  fact  is  expressly  declared,  "  For  there  is  one  God 
and  Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  you 
all."  (Ephe.  iv.  6.)  7.  It  is  also  interrogatively  affirmed,  (which 
is  the  strongest  form  of  affirmation,  being  a  question  which  in- 
volves its  own  answer,)  "  Have  we  not  all  one  Father  ?"  (Mai. 
ii.  6.)*  8.  And  Paul  admitted  the  same  to  be  true,  even  of 
the  idolatrous  Athenians,  "  Forasmuch,  then,  as  ye  are  the  off"- 
spring  of  God."  (Acts  xvii.  22.)  Jehovah  himself  repeatedly 
does  the  same  in  regard  to  the  rebellious  Jews,  "  If  I  am  a  father, 
where  is  mine  honor  T'  (Mai.  i.  10.)  Finally,  we  are  positive- 
ly declared  to  be  related  to  God  through  Christ,  who  is  "  the 

*  Oh,  the  straits  to  which  the  advocates  of  a  partial  theology  are  reduced  !  "  This 
affirmation,"  say  they,  "  only  has  respect  to  the  Jeu:ish  priests,  whom  the  prophet 
■was  then  addressing  himself  to."  Indeed  ?  Then  when  he  adds,  "  Haih  not  one  God 
created  us  all  ?"  I  suppose  we  are  to  understand  him  as  meaning,  that  God  is  the 
creator  of  none  but  those  priests ! 

Vol.  I.— H 


86  FRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

head  of  every  man,"  and  "  the  head  of  Christ  is  God."  (1  Cor* 
xi.  3.)     Much  more  might  be  adduced  to  the  same  effect. 

Sin  may,  indeed,  and  does,  efface  the  divine  image  in  us  ;  it 
may,  and  does,  render  us  unlike  our  Heavenly  Father ;  it  sepa- 
rates, too,  between  us  and  God  ;  but  it  cannot  dissolve  the 
relation,  nor  the  obligations,  between  the  parties  ;  for  that  rela- 
tion, and  those  obligations,  are  not  founded  on  any  qualities  we 
possess ;  but  on  the  act  of  God  in  our  creation,  and  nothing 
short  of  his  uncreating  us,  can  obliterate  them.  When  the 
prodigal  wandered  from  home — wasted  his  substance,  and  degra- 
ded himself,  did  he  cease  to  be  a  son  1  And  when  at  length, 
he  reflected  that  he  had  a  father,  was  he  mistaken  1  Oh,  no !  the 
sequel  proves  him  to  have  been  correct,  and  it  equally  proves  to 
us,  that  the  paternal  goodness  of  God,  (for  that  is  the  point  it 
was  introduced  to  illustrate,)  will  long — ^long  outlive  our  filial 
obedience  and  gratitude ;  God  will  not  cease  to  be  a  father, 
even  though  we  may  cease  to  act  as  his  children. 

I  have  said  above,  that  the  theory  which  supposes  mankind  to 
be  composed  of  two  opposite  parties,  is  exceedingly  pernicious  in 
its  influences ;  argument  can  scarcely  be  required  in  support  of  this. 
If  I  belong  to  the  devil — if  he  is  my  father — then  to  him  is  my 
filial  obedience  due — and  God  can  have  no  counter  claims  upon  it 
— every  child  is  bound  to  love  and  obey  his  own  parent.  This 
is  one  evil  consequence.  Another  is,  that  the  parties  standing 
toward  each  other  in  such  opposite  relations,  will  naturally  cher- 
ish toward  each  other  a  militant  disposition — the  child  of  God 
will  despise  the  child  of  the  devil,  and  the  latter  will  hate  the 
former  in  return.  How  much  of  the  seas  of  blood  that  has  cried 
to  the  throne  of  heaven  against  the  persecutor,  has  flowed  from 
this  source,  the  all-seeing  God  alone  can  tell.  What  if  the 
husband  should  be  a  child  of  God,  and  the  wife  a  child  of 
the  devil — will  God,  or  the  devil,  claim  the  oflfspring  1  or  v/ill 
they  divide  the  property  in  dispute  agreeably  to  Solomon's  de- 
cision 1 

The  bible  does,  indeed,  recognise  two  opposite  characters — but 
not  classes  of  men.  So  far  is  it  from  imputing  all  righteousness 
to  one  set  of  persons,  and  all  wickedness  to  another,  that  it  dis- 
tinctly asserts,  "  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness,"  (John  v. 
20.)  and  "  there  is  none  righteous,  no,  not  one."  (Rom.  iii.  10.) 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    87 

The  terms  righteous  and  wicked^  therefore,  as  they  respect  man- 
kind, have  but  a  relative  signification  ;  for  the  most  upright  of 
men  have  some  defects  of  character,  and  the  most  wicked  some 
redeeming  qualities  ;  if  a  division  of  mankind  were  attempted,  it 
is  certain  that  a  vast  majority  would  be  neither  on  the  one  side 
nor  the  other,  but  on  the  dividing  line  ;  it  would  be  exceedingly 
difficult  for  the  conflicting  claims  on  the  part  of  God,  and  the 
devil,  to  be  adjusted  in  regard  to  this  large  majority,  otherwise 
than  by  the  judgement  of  Solomon  before  alluded  to — by  each  of 
the  subjects  being  equally  divided  between  the  parties.  Thus 
much  for  the  difficulties  attendant  on  a  gross  interpretation  of  the 
figurative  language  of  scripture.  But  if  men,  as  the  scriptures 
assert,  belong  to  one  heavenly  parent,  and  one  redeeming  head, 
and  are  members  one  of  another,  then  are  they  bound  to  each 
other  in  fraternal,  and  to  their  common  parent  in  filial  ties; 
from  these  ties  arise  strong  obligations,  and  from  a  discharge 
of  these,  ensues  true  happiness — happiness  to  each,  happiness 
to  all. 

If  an  earthly  father's  love  to  his  child  will  endure  unimpaired 
through  a  long — long  course  of  disobedience  and  provocation  on 
the  part  of  that  child — if  it  will  follow  him  in  all  his  wanderings 
and  rebellions — inviting  his  return — eagerly  watching  for  occa- 
sions to  restore  him  to  virtue  and  to  happiness:  and  even  though 
that  child's  waywardness  may  have  exhausted  the  parent's  prop- 
erty— ruined  his  domestic  peace,  and  almost  broken  his  heart — if 
it  will  still  cling  to  the  ungrateful  wretch — even  down  to  death — 
water  his  ignominious  grave  with  tears  of  anguish — and  in  bitter- 
ness of  soul  exclaim — "  Oh !  my  son,  my  son !  would  God  I 
had  died  for  thee  !"  (2  Sam.  xviii.  13.)  Or,  in  case  the  child 
become  penitent,  if  it  will  still  meet  hira  more  than  half  way — 
embrace  him  in  its  arms — bestow  kisses  of  pardon  on  his  cheek — 
and  bedew  his  neck  with  tears  of  joy :  (Luke  xv.  30.)  if,  I  say, 
earthly  parental  love  will  do  this,  what  may  not  be  argued  from 
the  love  of  heaven  % 

"  Ah  !"  exclaims  an  objector,  "  but  God's  love  is  not  Ihe  same 
as  that  of  an  earthly  parent."  No,  not  exactly  the  same^  I  grant, 
it  differs  from  it,  however,  only  in  degree — not  in  nature.  An 
earthly  father's  love  may  fail — its  ardour  may  abate — for  it  is 
finite — it  is  even  among  possibilities  for  a  mother's  love  to 


88  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

cease  toward  her  suckling  child — but  the  parental  love  of  God  is 
higher  than  the  utmost  reach  of  human  affection,  by  as  much  as 
heaven  is  higher  than  the  earth.  (Isa.  Iv.  9.)  It  is  unfailing. 
(1  Cor.  xiii.  8.)  It  is  "  an  everlasting  love."  (Isa.  xxxi.  3.) 
*'  Many  waters  cannot  quench  it,  neither  can  the  floods  drown  it." 
(Cant.  viii.  7.)  It  existed  toward  us  even  when  we  were  aliens, 
and  enemies  by  wicked  works,"  (Col.  i.  21.)  and  although  for 
a  time  our  sins  may  so  far  "  separate  between  us  and  God,"  as  to 
hinder  our  enjoyment  of  his  goodness,  yet  a  total  and  final  for- 
feiture of  his  love  can  by  no  circumstances  be  effected.  (Rom. 
viii.  38.)  As  an  earthly  father  would,  were  it  in  his  power,  make 
all  his  offspring — even  the  least  deserving — unceasingly  happy — 
how  much  more  will  our  father  in  heaven — all-powerful  as  he  is, 
as  well  as  good — do  the  same  for  his  children  1  Jesus  Christ 
has  expressly,  and  by  his  own  repeated  example,  sanctioned 
comparisons  of  this  nature — he  enjoins,  "  Be  ye  therefore  merci- 
ful, even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  merciful."  (Luke  vi.  37.) 
We  should  certainly  hesitate  to  pronounce  a  parent  merciful, 
who  should  inflict  protracted  and  aggravated  miseries  upon  his 
children,  without  reference  to  any  merciful  end! 

We  argue  not  from  this  divine  relation,  that  God  will  noipunish 
us  according  to  the  demerit  of  our  crimes — on  the  contrary,  we 
insist  that  he  will — but  be  it  remembered,  that  to  punish  a  child 
is  one  thing — to  ruin  him  is  another. 

The  stern  old  Roman,  (Brutus)  who  sacrificed  his  oflfspring 
for  an  act  of  treachery  to  his  country's  freedom,  is  said  to  have 
betrayed  no  emotion  during  the  terrible  execution  of  the  sentence. 
His  patriotism  and  impartiality,  have  been  the  subject  of  lavish 
praise,  but  mankind  have  scarcely  accepted  these  considerations, 
in  atonement  for  his  outrage  upon  the  ties  of  nature. 

In  the  history  of  our  country,  there  is  an  incident  of  much 
moral  beauty ;  it  relates  to  the  time  of  our  war  with  the  French 
and  Indians,  while  we  were  yet  the  subjects  of  the  British  crown. 
A  man  by  the  name  of  Dunning,  being  at  work  in  his  field,  saw  a 
party  of  Indians  approach  his  dwelling,  where  lay  his  sick  wife 
and  infant  child,  to  whom  it  was  out  of  his  power  to  extend 
protection  ;  but  his  older  children  were  at  play  together  close  at 
hand,  and,  conceiving  ii  possible  to  save  at  least  one  of  them, 
he  seized  a  horse,  and  rode  up  to  the  group  with  the  purpose  of 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    89 

selecting  the  child  most  dear  to  him,  and  effecting  his  escape 
with  that  one  ;  when,  however,  he  came  to  the  business  of  selec- 
tion, he  found  it  impossible  to  fix  his  preference  in  favour  of  one 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest ;  and  he  therefore  resolved  on  making 
a  desperate  effort  for  the  rescue  of  the  whole.  Accordingly,  he 
drove  them  on  before  him,  interposing  his  own  person  betwixt 
them  and  the  fire  of  the  savages,  and  thus,  at  his  own  imminent 
risk,  he  succeeded  in  his  noble  undertaking  of  saving  all  his 
children.  What  a  beautiful  instance  of  paternal  love  !  A  father 
throws  his  own  life  between  his  children  and  ruin — mere  temporal 
ruin — and  that  father  but  a  man — a  child  of  dust !  But  the 
infinite  Being,  we  are  told,  will  abandon  millions — ay — millions 
of  millions — of  his  offspring — the  work  of  his  hands — to  a 
doom  of  infinite  woe  ! 

Reader,  are  you  a  father?  Have  you  a  child  after  your  own 
likeness,  or  the  likeness  of  her  whom  you  love  as  yourself  ]  If  so, 
look  now  upon  that  child,  and  tell  me,  if  you  have  the  heart  of  a 
man,  whether  any — the  worst  conceivable  provocation  on  his  part, 
can  so  utterly  alienate  your  affections  from  him,  and  blunt  your 
sensibilities  in  regard  to  him,  that  you  could  abandon  him  to  utter 
and  hopeless  ruin — to  a  state  in  which  he  would  be  lost — in  the 
most  absolute  sense  of  the  word — lost  to  virtue,  to  happiness,  to 
you,  to  his  God,  even  to  hope  itself,  (ihe  last  to  desert  the  miser- 
able,) and  to  all  the  purposes  of  his  existence  ]  Can  you,  sir, 
render  affirmative  answers  to  these  questions  1  The  Lord  pity 
you  for  a  wretch,  if  you  can  !  and  if  you  cannot,  then,  I  pray  you, 
avoid  the  blasphemy  of  imputing  to  the  "  Father  of  mercies,'* 
acts  of  cruelty,  at  which  even  your  better  nature  revolts  ! 

Oh  !  how  many  an  earnest  prayer  has  gone  up  to  the  throne  of 
Ueaven,  from  the  hearts  of  parents,  who  mistakenly  conceived 
their  children  to  be  liable  to  a  doom  of  ceaseless  fire  !  And  to 
that  all-seeing  eye,  which  can  analyse  all  human  thoughts, 
what  intense — what  poignant  solicitude  is  often  discernible  in 
these  supplications!  "  Oh  !  my  God,"  (we  may  conceive  tobe. 
the  substance  of  these  parental  breathings,)  "  compassionate  the 
sorrow-stricken  heart  of  a  father !  and  arrest  the  steps  of  my 
thoughtless  and  wayward  child,  that  they  take  him  not  down  to 
depths  of  ruin,  beyond  the  reach  of  thy  grace.  Oh  !  let  not  my 
soul  in  his  loss  deplore  the  eternal  blight  of  its  hopes,  and  all  the 
Vol.  I ^H  2 


90  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

fond  expectations  of  my  trusting  heart — that  as  thou  hadst  given 
him  to  me  in  love,  that  same  almighty  love  would  charge  itself 
with  his  safekeeping,  until  he  reached  the  bliss  at  thy  right  hand 
— oh !  let  not  these  expectations  issue  in  a  harvest  of  despair  ! 
And,  oh  Lord  !  pity  also  the  mother  on  whose  bosom  he  hung,  and 
who  watched  over  his  infancy  with  the  vigilance  of  a  love,  which 
among  finite  beings,  none  but  a  mother  can  know.  Oh  !  how  can 
she  endure,  that  a  plant  she  so  cherished,  should  grow  up  but  to 
be  blasted  by  thy  wrath !  Pity  us !  pity  us.  Lord  !  and  if  the  bolt 
of  thy  displeasure  must  have  an  object,  let  it  fall  on  me,  but  let 
the  mother  and  her  offspring  live  !  Oh,  let  not  our  sun  go  down 
in  so  dark  a  cloud,  as  that  which  bodes  his  ruin  !"  Alas  !  alas, 
old  man  !  know  you  not,  that  the  love  of  heaven  for  the  subject 
of  your  solicitude,  even  infinitely  exceeds  your  own  1  Think  you 
that  your  son  has  a  stronger  hold  in  your  regards — all  frail  and 
limited  as  you  are — than  in  those  of  the  God  that  .made  him  1 
Does  the  affectionate  mother  need  to  be  implored  to  be  kind  to  the 
infant  at  her  breast]  much  less  does  the  love  of  our  Father  [in 
heaven,  need  to  be  moved  toward  his  offspring,  by  their  feeble 
supplications — can  a  little  drop  agitate  an  ocean  ?  or  an  atom 
discompose  the  order  and  harmony  of  the  universe  1  Then  will 
infinite  love  require  to  be  moved  by  that  which  is  finite.  Hence 
with  the  poet  we  may  say — 

"  And  will  Jehovah  condescend 
To  be  my  father  and  my  friend  1 
»  Then  let  my  songs  with  angels  join. 

Heaven's  secure  if.  God  is  mine." 

And  here  I  may  as  well  stop,  for  there  is  no  end.  to  the  argu- 
ment for  the  ultimate  salvation  of  mankind  from  the  paternal 
relations  of  God. 

3.  AS  OUR  MORAL  GOVERNOR.— We  usually  account 
a  ruler  to  be  wise  and  good,  in  proportion  as  the  subjects  of  his 
government  are  prosperous  and  happy.  The  best  of  earthly  sove- 
reigns, however,  cannot  entirely  prevent  crime,  and  its  attend- 
ant miseries  from  infesting  their  dominions,  but  in  proportion  as 
they  can  and  do  secure  this  result,  are  their  administrations  ad- 
mired, and  they  themselves  accounted  the  benefactors  of  their 
people.  Suppose  that  we  were  informed  by  an  intelligent  travel- 
ler, that  in  journeying  through  a  certain  country,  he  found  the 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    91 

people  in  the  most  degraded  situation  conceivable — that  in  what- 
ever direction  he  went  amongst  them,  he  could  hear  little  else 
than  descriptions  of  the  terrible  vengeance  of  their  king — his 
horrid  prisons — solitary  cells — racks,  puUies,  and  other  torturing 
instruments — and  the  groans  and  screams  of  the  hapless  in- 
mates of  these  drear  abodes.  And  suppose  this  traveller  should 
further  inform  us  that  the  officers  of  this  king,  and  those 
who  assumed  to  know  his  character  and  interpret  his  designs, 
were  in  the  constant  habit  of  enforcing  his  mandates  upon  the 
people  by  appeals — to  their  fears  in  reference  to  these  horrors. 
Should  we  not  from  this  description,  conclude  that  said  king  was 
a  monstrous  tyrant  1 

If  it  be  asked  whether  an  earthly  ruler  would  be  justified  in 
allowing  crime  and  suffering  to  enter  his  dominion — supposing 
he  had  the  power  to  keep  them  out  1  it  must  be  answered, 
No — except  he  could  secure  some  ultimate  good  to  his  subjects 
by  their  admission — and  that  ultimate  good  must  be  so  great,  as 
fully  to  compensate  for  the  temporary  evils  and  misery  which 
they  occasioned,  insomuch  that  in  the  issue,  his  subjects  would 
be  gainers  by  iheir  admission.  In  that  case  he  would  be  fully 
justified.  On  this  ground  alone,  as  I  conceive,  can  the  almighty 
ruler  of  the  universe  be  acquitted  of  folly  or  cruelty,  in  having 
permitted  sin  and  suffering  to  enter  the  world — for  none  are  so 
weak  as  to  suppose  that  he  could  not  have  had  it  otherwise.  And 
do  we  not  grossly  slander  his  character  when  we  affirm,  that  he 
permitted  this  state  of  things  with  the  certain  foresight  that  it 
would  never  be  remedied,  but  would  to  all  eternity  be  growing 
worse,  and  would  involve  in  irreparable  ruin  many  millions  of  his 
unfortunate  subjects'?  They  who  can  vindicate  so  cruel,  and 
unwise  an  administration  of  affairs,  must  be  entitled  to  some  credit 
for  their  ingenuity ! 

A  certain  sovereign,  whose  empire  was  large  and  populous,  and 
whose  defences  were  so  strong  that  no  foe  could  invade  his  do- 
minions, without  his  permission,  who  knew,  moreover,  that 
nothing  would  more  gratify  his  malignant  enemies  than  to  be  able 
to  gain  an  entrance  among  his  people,  and  by  enticing  them  from 
their  allegiance,  to  involve  them  in  wretchedness  and  ruin.  Yet 
this  king  gave  orders  that  all  the  entrances  and  defences  of  his 
empire  should  be  left  unguarded,  and  every  obstruction  to  the 


92  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

ingress  of  the  foe  removed :  which  being  done,  they  rushed 
eagerly  in,  and  all  the  disastrous  consequences  which  it  was  fore- 
seen would  follow,  were  soon  apparent.  Whereupon,  he  was 
wroth — very  wroth — and  ordained  that  the  evils  thus  introduced 
among  his  subjects  should  never  be  wholly  extirpated,  and  that  all 
of  his  people  who  should  omit  to  return  to  their  allegiance  with- 
in a  certain  brief  space  of  time,  should  be  abandoned  irredeem- 
ably to  the  consequences  of  their  rebellion,  in  addition  to  the  most 
horrid  tortures  which  it  was  in  his  power  to  inflict !  Can  you  tell 
me,  reader,  who  that  sovereign  was  1 

Is  the  above,  then,  a  true  representation  of  the  ruler  of  the 
universe  ?  It  undeniably  is  if  the  theory  of  ceaseless  punish- 
ment be  true,  but  it  by  no  means  corresponds  with  God  as  he  is 
revealed  in  the  bible,  however  it  may  as  he  is  revealed  by  Milton, 
for  does  the  former  teach  that  the  universe  will  always  be  a  scene 
of  rebellion  and  suffering  ?  Shall  hatred  eternally  divide  God's 
empire  with  love  1 — Sin  with  holiness  1  Hell  with  heaven  ? 
Shall  the  tide  of  ruin — deep,  widespread,  everlasting,  be  allowed 
to  roll  over  his  fair  works  by  his  own  consent  or  connivance  ? 
No — no — no !  this  cannot  be.  On  the  contrary,  if  any  dependence 
is  to  be  put  on  inspired  testimony,  Jehovah  shall  reign  throughout 
the  universe  in  the  supremacy  of  almighty,  all-subduing  love — 
to  him  shall  every  knee  bow,  and  every  tongue  swear,  that  in 
him  they  have  righteousness  and  strength,  (Isa.  xlv.  23.)  every 
power  inimical  to  the  order  and  harmony  of  his  government, 
shall  be  destroyed,  (1  Cor.  xv.  24,  25,  26.)  corruption,  dishonor, 
mortality,  death,  hades ;  shall  be  swallowed  up  in  a  victory  of 
incorruption,  glory,  immortality,  life  and  heaven,  and  God  shall 
be  all  in  all.  (ibid.)  Such  will  be  the  triumphant  issue  of  the 
divine  government;  and  with  great  propriety  therefore,  does 
the  Psalmist  exclaim,  "The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  re- 
joice !"  (Psl.  xcvii.  1.)  Oh  !  this  cheering  truth  !  what  a  guar- 
antee does  it  afford,  that  all  events — however  complicated — 
however  dark  and  unpromising  to  our  imperfect  perceptions — 
shall  nevertheless  issue  in  a  final  consummation,  most  cheering 
and  salutary  to  every  intelligent  being  !  It  is  enough  to  know  that 
love  reigns — infinite  love — to  be  assured  that  the  affairs  of  the 
universe  are  wisely  and  benevolently  administered,  and  that  though 
"  sorrow  endureth  for  a  night,"  yet  the  shades  of  that  night 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    93 

shall  ere  long  pass  away,  and  "joy  cometh  in  the  morning." 
(Psl.  1.  30.) 

It  is  an  inquiry  of  grave  moment,  whether  in  the  government 
of  Jehovah  a  suitable  distinction  is  maintained  between  the  good 
and  the  bad  in  his  present  dispensations,  or  whether  he  defers  the 
making  of  such  distinction  until  the  parties  arrive  in  eternity. 
That  the  former  is  the  case  is  evident  from  several  considerations, 
but  these  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  introduce  until  I  come  to  treat 
upon  9^  future  judgment  i  suffice  it  for  the  present  to  observe,  that 
if  the  good  were  not  now  rewarded,  and  the  wicked  now  punish- 
ed, the  former  would  become  discouraged,  and  the  latter  em- 
boldened, and  thus  great  injustice  would  be  done  to  both. 
Moreover  we  should  not  know  virtue  to  be  a  goody  nor  vice  to  be 
an  evil,  but  for  their  respective  effects — nor  is  it  enough  that  we 
merely  observe  these  effects,  we  must  experience  them — Should 
we  ever  be  likely  to  abandon  a  fountain  whose  waters  were 
uniformly  sweet  to  our  taste  ?  Or  a  tree,  whose  fruit  was  deli- 
cious ?  And  can  it  comport  with  the  justice  (not  to  say  goodness) 
of  our  divine  ruler,  to  have  so  framed  the  moral  system,  that  the 
very  actions  which  tend  to  our  final  undoing,  should  be  agreeable 
in  their  present  influences,  and  that  those  actions  which  are  promo- 
tive of  our  eventual  good,  should  yield  no  present  enjoyment  to  the 
actors  ?  As  well  would  it  comport  with  the  regards  of  a  father 
to  the  welfare  of  his  child  to  strew  with  flowers,  and  with 
tempting  fruits,  a  path  in  which  lies  hidden  a  frightful  preci- 
pice ;  for  in  such  case  he  might  assure  himself  of  his  child's 
destruction. 

The  laws  of  nature,  it  is  true,  have  an  equal  operation  upon  all 
classes  of  men.  God  "  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on 
the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  the  unjust,"  (Mat.  v, 
45.)  all  classes  are  alike  liable  to  sickness,  poverty,  pain,  death, 
&c.  Is  there  therefore  no  present  and  sufficient  distinction  among 
them  1  There  undoubtedly  is.  "  Great  peace  have  they  that  love 
God's  law,  and  nothing  shall  offend  them,"  (Psl.cxix.  165.)  but 
"  there  is  no  peace,  saith  my  God,  to  the  wicked."  (Isaiah  Ivii. 
21.)  The  ways  of  wisdom  (meaning  virtue)  are  said  to  be 
"  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are  peace."  (Prov.  iii. 
17.)  On  the  contrary,  "  the  way  of  transgressors  is  hard." 
y^Ibid.  xiii.  15.)    We  must  therefore  not  commit  the  mistake  of 


94  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

supposing,  that  because  these  distinctions  are  not  always  plain  to 
our  perception,  that  therefore  they  do  not  exist :  neither  must  we 
suppose  that  because  the  good  are  not  always  rich  and  healthy, 
nor  the  wicked  always  in  indigent  or  afflictive  circumstances, 
that  therefore  the  former  are  not  sufficiently  rewarded,  nor  the 
latter  sufficiently  punished. 

"  For  what  if  virtue  starves,  while  vice  is  fed, 

What  then  1     Is  the  reward  of  virtue  bread  V — Pope. 

Solomon  saith,  "  He  that  spareth  the  rod  hateth  his  son,"  [and 
so  he  does  virtually — for  he  pursues  toward  him  a  course  ad 
apted  for  his  ruin,  and  hatred  could  do  no  worse]  "  but  he  that 
loveth  him,  chasteneth  him  betimes."  (Prov.  xiii.  24.)  It  is 
unaccountable  that  a  different  conduct  should  be  thought  of  for  a 
moment,  as  ascribable  to  the  deity  !  "  Shall  not  the  judge  of  all 
the  earth  do  right  '^"  (Gen.  xviii.  25.) 

Conversing  once  with  a  preceptor  of  youth,  who  was  of  the 
opposite  opinion — I  advised  him,  with  affected  gravity,  to  adopt 
for  his  school  a  similar  plan  of  government.  "  Instead,"  said  I, 
*'  of  rewarding  your  meritorious,  or  punishing  your  culpable 
scholars,  day  by  day,  as  they  may  deserve — enter  against  their 
names  in  a  book  every  good  or  bad  action  which  they  may  com- 
mit— and  at  the  end  of  the  year  call  them  to  an  account  for  all 
their  past  conduct,  and  then  reward  or  punish  them  respectively 
in  gross :  this  will  at  once  save  you  much  trouble,  and  afford  you 
an  opportunity  of  vindicating  the  rectitude  of  your  goverrunent 
to  the  collected  mass."  My  friend  stared  upon  me  in  surprise— 
for  I  had  taken  care  not  to  connect  this  advice  with  any  allusion 
to  his  religious  opinions — "  Oh  sir !"  he  exclaimed,  "  this  plan 
would  prove  most  weak  and  ruinous  !  The  meritorious  scholars 
finding  themselves  so  long  neglected,  would  become  dishearten- 
ed ;  the  vicious  ones  would  grow  reckless  and  hardened  from 
long  impunity,  and  the  school  in  that  case  would  dissolve  before 
the  term  expired  ;  but  even  if  this  consequence  did  not  ensue,  to 
inflict  upon  the  culprits  altogether  the  punishment  they  had 
demerited  by  their  several  misdemeanours  thoughout  the  term, 
would  be  to  destroy  them  utterly — No,  no,  sir,  it  would  not 
answer!  I  should  be  foolish  and  weak  indeed  to  govern  my 
school  by  such  a  plan  !" — "  And  yet,  my  friend,"  I  rejoined 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    95 

"your  creed  ascribes  precisely  such  a  system  of  government  to 
the  sovereign  of  the  universe  !" 

In  nothing,  perhaps,  is  the  weakness  of  man  more  conspic- 
uously displayed,  than  in  his  lowering  the  divine  character 
even  far  beneath  his  own,  and  then  affecting  to  reverence  it 
as  the  very  infinitude  of  perfection !  Let  an  earthly  ruler  but 
act  as  we  represent  Jehovah  as  acting,  and  he  would  earn  for 
himself  the  unenviable  reputation  of  a  miscreant — a  monster — 
we  would  assign  him  a  niche  in  the  temple  of  infamy  with 
Caligula — with  Domitian — with  Marius — with  Henry  the  elev- 
enth of  France — and  eighth  of  England — and  others  of  like 
hard  heart  and  dark  spirit,  who  stand  prominent  amongst  the 
loathed  and  hated  of  mankind, 

'*  By  merit  raised  to  that  bad  emmence." 

And  yet  we  affect  to  regard  with  lavish  praise  those  self-same 
odious  attributes,  when  connected  with  an  idol  of  our  imagina- 
tion to  which  we  impiously  apply  the  name  GOD  ! ! !  It  can 
surely  then  not  be  much  wondered  at,  that  so  much  depravity  of 
character  has  been  found  among  the  worshipers  of  such  a  deity ; 
and  that  in  the  train  of  this  radical  and  leading  error  so  much 
that  is  absurd  in  theory,  and  nauseating  and  blighting  in  influ- 
ence, should  be  found.  The  purest  of  hearts  will  in  time  be 
vitiated  by  constant  communion  with  a  bad  being,  and  what 
worse  being  can  be  found  in  the  universe  (if  we  may  except  the 
devil)  than  he  whom  millions  of  blinded  devotees  adore  as 
God  ?  Unsinning  infants  themselves,  have  been  supposed  the 
objects  of  his  wrath !  The  successive  generations  who  have 
been  born  and  perished  in  heathen  lands,  and  without  their  own 
fault  have  never  heard  of  him,  it  has  been  believed,  will  have  to 
do  penance  for  their  ignorance  in  never-ceasing  groans  !  Many 
to  conciliate  him  have  traversed  burning  and  sandy  wastes  ;  many 
have  clad  themselves  in  sackcloth  and  denied  themselves  all  the 
comforts  of  existence ;  many  have  crouched  down  and  been 
crushed  under  heavy  cars ;  walked  barefooted  over  burning  coals  ; 
&c.  &c.,  and  even  in  our  own  time  and  country,  how  much 
anxiety  of  soul  is  experienced — how  many  hearts  are  crushed — 
and  over  how  many  a  tender  and  amiable  spirit  is  thrown  the 
blasting  and  blighting  influence  of  fear  ?    Does  infinite  hatred 


96  PRO  AND  CON  OF  tJNIVERSALlSM. 

occupy  the  throne  of  the  universe  ?  Is  the  king  of  heaven  an 
almighty  tyrant  1  Why — oh  ye  children  of  men,  are  ye  not 
assured  by  the  instructions  of  the  bible  I  It  calls  upon  you  to 
rejoice,  because  God  reigneth — it  represents  his  goodness  as  unto 
all,  and  his  tender  mercy  as  over  all  his  vv^orks — it  tells  you  that 
the  unthankful  and  the  evil  are  also  the  subjects  of  his  kindness — 
It  points  to  God  as  the  pattern  and  the  perfection  of  those  virtues 
which  ye  yourselves  should  practice — it  sets  forth  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  you  as  the  embodied  representative  of  those  perfections — and 
was  he  a  Being  to  break  a  bruised  reed,  or  quench  the  smoking 
flax  ?  were  his  ministrations  such  as  were  adapted  to  break  the 
heart — or  to  paralyse  it  with  despair  1 

I  have  before  alluded  to  the  conclusion  we  should  form  concern- 
ing a  sovereign ;  from  the  reports  of  a  traveler  respecting  the 
condition  of  his  subjects — that  if  he  found  a  great  deal  of  suffer- 
ing and  oppression  which  were  never  to  be  brought  to  a  benefi- 
cial termination,  we  should  thence  infer  that  said  sovereign  was 
a  tyrant.  Let  us  now  imagine  a  celestial  tourist  to  have  just 
returned  to  the  abodes  of  bliss  from  a  wide  flight  for  observation 
among  the  works  of  God — the  hosts  of  heaven  gather  around 
him — each  harp  suspends  its  melodies,  and  each  angelic  minstrel 
bends  forward  with  eager  attention,  not  doubting  that  the  disclo- 
sures about  to  be  made  will  develope  new  mysteries  of  love  and 
goodness  on  the  part  of  their  king,  which  shall  awaken  their 
harps  to  still  loftier  notes  of  praise. — But  who  can  conceive  their 
astonishment  and  dismay  when  they  are  told  of  a  vast,  vast 
world  of  liquid  fire — and  of  myriads  upon  myriads  of  ill-fated 
spirits  who  are  the  sport  of  its  angry  billows — tempest-tost  by 
the  breath  of  omnipotent  wrath — and  live  but  for  suffering — for 
ruin — for  despair  1  And  what  has  been  their  crime  ?  Perhaps 
for  long,  long  ages,  they  outraged  their  sovereign's  laws — distur- 
bed the  harmony  of  his  dominions — repaid  his  kindness  with 
repeated  rebellions  and  ingratitude — and  multiplied  their  provo- 
cations in  proportion  as  his  blessings  were  multiplied  upon 
them — until  at  length  even  infinite  goodness  was  wearied  out 
with  their  obstinate  resistance  to  its  influences,  and  abandoned 
them  to  their  inevitable  fate.  But  no;  such  is  not  the  ground  on 
which  their  ruin  stands  justified  ;  on  the  contrary,  their  trespasses 
were  of  but  momentary  duration— committed  in  much  ignorance. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RELATIONS  OF  GOD  TO  MAN.    97 

and  under  strong  temptations — from  motives  of  self-gratification 
merely — and  not  of  injury  or  arrogance  to  their  Lord,  who, 
indeed,  is  by  his  own  nature,  infinitely  above  the  reach  of  evil. 
"  And  oh,  my  conj  peers !  "  continues  the  celestial  narrator, 
**  Could  you  see  that  dreadful  abode  of  woe — and  hear  those 
frightful  shrieks — those  imploring  groans — to  which  is  rendered 
no  other  response  than  the  echoes  of  their  own  despair !  You 
would  then  see  that  our  creator's  character  has  dark  and  odious 
aspects,  such  as  are  not  dreampt  of  in  this  world  of  light !  would 
that  I  could  report,  that  from  these  miseries  is  to  arise  some 
ultimate  object  of  benevolence  to  the  sufferers  !  Alas  !  no  such 
object  is  proposed ;  on  every  bolt  which  secures  the  portals 
of  that  horrid  place  I  saw  deeply  engraven  the  dreadful  word — 
ETERNITY— and  the  key,  (I  was  informed,*)  when  the  last 
spirit  doomed  to  pass  through  these  portals  shall  have  entered — 
is  to  be  hurled  by  the  hand  of  omnipotence  to  immeasurable 
depths  in  the  abyss  of  space — and  decreed  there  to  rust  for  ever- 
lasting ages  !" 

Reader,  can  the  truth  of  the  above  picture  be  admitted,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  infinite  goodness  of  Jehovah  be  believed, 
without  a  solecism  as  gross  as  language  was  ever  framed  to 
express  1  Human  ingenuity  could  scarcely  be  more  poorly  em- 
ployed than  when  engaged  to  reconcile  such  flagrant  contradic- 
tions ;  and  there  is  no  calculating  the  injury  to  the  christian 
cause,  which  has  ensued  from  this  very  source. 

Who  that  has  been,  in  imagination,  with  the  indefatigable 
Latude,  in  his  long  and  painful  incarceration  in  the  Bastile — with 
the  no  less  dauntless  and  indomitable  Trenck,  in  the  horrid  hells 
of  Prussia — or  with  the  amiable  Silvio  Pellico,  in  his  ten  years' 


*  We  must  9'jppose  the  poet,  Young,  the  informant  in  this  case,  as  we  know  of 
no  other  to  whom  the  secret  touching  the  key  of  hell  has  ever  been  entrusted. 

"  What  ensues  ? 
The  deed  predominant !  the  deed  of  deeds  ! 
Which  makes  a  hell  of  hell,  a  heaven  of  heaven. 
The  goddess,  with  determined  aspect,  turns 
Her  adamantine  key's  enormous  size 
Through  destiny's  inextricable  wards, 
Deep  dfriving  every  bolt,  on  both  their  fates : 
Then,  from  the  crystal  battlements  of  heaven, 
Down,  down  she  hurls  it  through  the  dark  profound, 
Ten  thousand  thousand  fathom";  there  to  rust, 
And  ne'er  unlock  her  resolution  more. 
The  deep  resounds ;  and  hell,  through  all  her  glooms, 
Returns  in  groans  the  melancholy  roar." 

Vol.  I.— I  No.  5. 


98  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

confinements  in  the  dungeons  of  Spielburgh, — who  that  has  in 
these  cases  been  made  acquainted  with  the  dark  and  systematic 
expedients  of  oppression  by  which  the  unfortunate  victims  were 
kept  for  long  and  lingering  years  (to  them  ages)  on  the  rack  of 
mental  and  bodily  suffering,  and  has  not,  in  his  very  heart  of 
hearts,  cursed  the  odious  tyrants  by  whom  this  suffering  was 
inflicted  ?  And  yet  these  monsters  in  human  form  were  angels 
of  mercy  in  comparison  with  the  almighty  tyrant  of  the  universe, 
if  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  be  true !  They  could  not  be 
present  with  their  victims — they  could  not  hear  their  affecting 
groans,  nor  know  all  their  secret  pangs — they  could  not  sympa- 
thize in  their  feverish  longings  after  liberty,  the  enjoyment  of  the 
sweet  air  of  heaven,  a  sight  of  ever-varying  and  ever-beauteous 
nature,  of  kindred  and  friends — nor  could  they  appreciate  the 
depth  of  anguish  which  the  wretch  must  feel  who  views  himself 
as  a  link  stricken  out  of  the  chain  of  human  existence,  and  de- 
nied the  privilege  of  acting  his  allotted  part  on  the  theatre  of  life. 
No,  earthly  kings  cannot  fathom  the  depth  of  woe  their  hapless 
victims  experience ;  besides  that  their  personal  attention  is  not 
directed  to  them,  but  is  engaged  with  their  own  pleasures  and  the 
affairs  of  state.  But  not  such  is  the  case  with  the  Omniscient 
Being,  and  therefore  the  greater,  and  more  inexorable  tyrant  he, 
if  the  acts  imputed  to  him  by  human  systems  of  faith  be  accord- 
ing to  fact. 

I  have  now  gone  through  with  the  argument  from  the  relations 
of  God  ;  as  our  Creator,  Father,  and  Moral  Governor  :  they  lead 
US  to  the  same  conclusion  as  that  to  which  we  arrived  from  the 
consideration  of  his  attributes ;  immense  stores  of  argument  to 
the  same  effect  are  still  before  us  ;  have  I,  as  yet,  committed  the 
smallest  departure  from  candor?  Has  my  reasoning  in  any 
instance  been  overstrained,  or  far-fetched  ?  Have  the  premises 
been  begged  1  or  the  deductions  been  illogical  1  If  on  any  of 
these  grounds  I  have  offended,  I  am  content,  reader,  to  forfeit  my 
credit  with  you  to  that  amount.  But  if  otherwise,  I  pray  you  to 
let  your  mind  be  open  to  the  influence  of  truth,  and  to  remember, 
that  a  true  knowledge  of  our  Creator's  character,  and  of  his  rela- 
tions to  us,  forms  the  basis  of  all  vital  and  practical  religion ; 
and  the  basis  too,  of  all  true  and  lasting  enjoyment. 


HYMN  OF  CONSOLATION.  99 

Time's  swift  advance  is  hastening  near 

The  moment  of  my  spirit's  flight, 
Soon,  soon  'twill  leave  this  darksome  sphere, 

And  spring  to  distant  worlds  of  hght : 
There  bliss  is  known  without  alloy, 

And  beauty  blooms  without  decay  ; 
All  thought  of  grief  in  cloudless  joy 

Shall  melt  hke  morning  mist  away. 

Adieu  to  sin,  where  boundless  love 

Hath  to  himself  all  things  subdued ; 
Adieu  to  tears — that  world  above 

Shall  sorrow's  faintest  sigh  exclude. 
And  thou,  pale  tyrant  of  the  tomb  I 

I  soar  beyond  thy  blighting  breath  : 
I  go  where  fadeless  glories  bloom, — 

Adieu  to  sorrow,  sin,  and  death ! 

'Twill  there  be  ray  sublime  employ 

My  Maker's  power  and  love  to  trace 
Through  worlds  on  worlds  of  light  and  joy, 

Which  people  the  unbounded  space : 
And  though  I  speed  on  wings  of  hght 

For  ever  and  for  evermore, 
I  cannot  reach  his  glory's  height, 

I  cannot  all  his  love  explore. 

Oh,  bliss  on  bliss  !  to  dwell  with  God ! 

And  his  unveil'd  perfections  see ; 
For  wasteless  ages  my  abode. 

Shall  in  his  blissful  presence  be  : 
And  all  that  thought  had  e'er  conceived 

Of  beauty,  glory,  joy,  and  love. 
Or  tongue  express'd,  or  faith  believed, 

I'll  find  surpass'd  in  worlds  above. 

There  I  shall  on  his  bosom  rest, 

Who  gave  his  life  to  ransom  me. 
And  all  mankind,  in  Jesus  blest, 

Shall  form  one  great  society. 
And  hark !  from  the  enraptur'd  throng 

Redeem'd  from  sin,  from  Hades  freed, 
Salvation  !  bursts  in  ceaseless  song  ; — 

Oh !  there  is  bliss !  'tis  bliss  indeed ! 

E'en  on  this  dim  and  distant  sphere,_ 

We  join  our  feeble  notes  of  praise ; 
Some  gleams  of  glory  reach  us  here, 

And  our  glad  hearts  with  rapture  raise. 
All  praise  to  thee,  thou  God  of  love  ! 

Whose  smiles  are  all  the  heaven  we  know ! 
Our  deathless  powers  in  worlds  above 

Their  ceaseless  gratitude  shall  show. 


100  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALlSM. 

UNIVERSAL  SALVATION. 
FURTHER  PROVED  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES. 

First.  The  doctrine  of  the  ultimate  salvation  of  all  men  is 
according  to  the  WILL  OF  GOD ;  (1  Tim.  ii.  4.)  and  this  fact 
surely  is  of  great  weight  in  its  favour;  for  although  Arminians 
pretend  that  the  human,  and  not  the  divine  will,  is  supreme  in 
this  case,  the  scriptures  are  far  from  countenancing  such  an  idea, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  teach  that  God  "  worketh  all  things  after  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will."  (Ephe.  i.  11.)  And  even  in  the 
business  of  regeneration  they  make  his  will  to  be  the  sovereign 
cause.  "  Of  his  own  will  begat  he  us  by  the  word  of  truth ;" 
(Jam.  i.  18.)  "which  were  born,  not  of  blood,  nor  of  the  will 
of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  (John  i.  3.) 
And  yet  we  are  charitably  informed,  that  if  we  fail  of  being  the 
subjects  of  this  divine  work,  we  shall  be  doomed  to  ceaseless 
perdition  !  Very  rational !  The  will  of  God  in  the  matter  of 
man's  salvation  is  negatively  as  well  as  affirmatively  expressed ; 
and  if  any  are  finally  lost,  it  is  clear  that  the  will  of  Jehovah  will 
be  frustrated. 

But  is  this  probable  1  Is  it  possible  %  When  the  will  of  God 
is  formed  in  regard  to  any  object,  he  appoints  the  means,  and,  of 
course,  the  adequate  means,  for  bringing  it  about.  Christ  was 
appointed  to  this  very  end.  "  For  I  came  down  from  heaven," 
saith  he,  "  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent 
me;  and  this  is  the  Father's  will  which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all 
which  he  hath  given  me  I  should  lose  nothing,  but  should  raise 
it  up  again  at  the  last  day."  (John  vi.  38,  39.)  If  none  thai 
were  given  to  Christ  shall  be  so  lost  as  not  to  be  recovered  at 
length,  it  behooves  us  to  inquire.  How  many  were  included  in 
that  gift?  Answer.  "The  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  hath 
given  all  things  into  his  hands."  (John  iii.  35.)  "  Whom  he 
hath  appointed  heir  of  all  things.^"  (Heb.  i.  2.)  "  All  things 
that  the  Father  hath  are  mine."  (John  xvi.  15.)  Here,  then, 
we  have  the  business  of  Christ  clearly  revealed.  Was  Christ 
sufficiently  empowered  to  fulfil  this  object]  The  following  facts 
leave  us  no  grounds  for  doubt  on  this  point.    First,  The  Father 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.       101 

delegated  to  him  all  power  in  heaven  and  in  earth.  (Mat.  xxviii. 
18.)  Second,  The  keys  of  hell  and  of  death  were  committed  to 
his  hands.  (Rev.  i.  10.)  Third,  He  commands  us  io  pray  {ox 
this  object.  (Mat.  vi.  10.)  And  we  must  have  a  better  opinion 
of  his  wisdom  than  to  suppose,  that  he  would  sanction  our  pray- 
ing for  an  event  which  he  knew  would  never  come  to  pass,  "  for 
whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin."  (Rom.  xiv.  23.)  Fourth,  It 
seems  scarcely  probable  that  Jesus  would  commence  an  under- 
taking without  a  pre-assurance  of  his  ability  to  complete  it,  and 
thus  offend  against  the  moral  of  his  own  parable,  concerning  a 
man  who  began  to  build  without  being  able  to  finish ;  (Luke  xiv. 
29,  30.)  for  that  he  undertook  the  redemption  of  the  world  is  cer- 
tain. Will  he  fail  from  a  neglect  to  couni  the  cost  1  Fifth,  We 
have  positive  assurance  that  "  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall 
prosper  in  his  hand,"  that  "  he  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul 
and  shall  be  satisfied;"  (Isa.  liii.  10,  11.)  which  can  be  con- 
ceived to  mean  nothing  less  than  that  he  will  fully  accomplish 
the  object  of  his  mission  and  death.  If  Christ  "  tasted  death  for 
every  man,"  (Heb.  ii.  9.)  and  yet  millions  shall  be  finally  lost, 
will  he  be  satisfied?  Finally,  Paul  assures  us,  that  Christ  "  must 
reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet ;"  (1  Cor.  xv.  25.) 
and  by  all  enemies  is  clearly  meant,  all  those  things  that  are 
inimical  to  man's  purity  and  allegiance  to  God ;  sin,  death,  the 
devil,  hell,  &c.  that  God  may  be  all  in  all. 

It  may  be  said — "  But  sinners  are  so  perverse,  their  wills  so 
stubborn,  so  much  opposed  to  God,  that  their  redemption  is  utterly 
hopeless,  and  even  impossible."  Reader,  perhaps  your  own  case 
may  constitute  a  refutation  of  this  objection.  Was  not  your 
heart  once  thus  perverse  ?  obstinate  ?  opposed  to  God  ?  And  if  so, 
cannot  the  same  grace  that  overcame  its  enmity  equally  over- 
come that  of  others  T  To  remove  these  barriers  to  our  union  to 
God  was  the  very  end  of  Christ's  mission  and  death.  We  can 
scarcely  suppose  him  to  have  been  so  short-sighted  as  not  to 
foresee  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome.  This,  indeed,  would  be 
neglecting  to  count  the  cost !  My  dear  sir,  look  what  your  objec- 
tion amounts  to.  Our  hearts  are  hardened  in  sin  ;  Christ  came  to 
soften  them,  but  he  fails — why  1  Because  they  are  so  hard  I  Our 
wills  are  opposed  to  God ;  Christ  came  to  subdue  them,  but  he 
fails — why  1   Because  they  are  so  opposed !   Methinks  he  should 

Vol.  I I  2 


102  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

have  seen  the  whole  difficulty  of  the  case  before  he  undertook  it ; 
and  either  not  have  undertaken  at  all,  or  else  have  prepared  him- 
self in  proportion  to  the  resistance  which  he  knew  he  should  meet 
with.  Reader,  this  will  really  not  do ;  the  grace  of  God,  you 
believe,  was  sufficient  for  Manasseh,  for  the  dying  thief,  for  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  for  the  Philippian  jailor,  and  think  you  there  is  any 
case  beyond  its  reach?  What  said  Christ  himself  concerning 
Mary  Magdalene  l  That  they  love  most  to  whom  most  is  for- 
given. (Luke  vii.  47.)  Still,  however,  as  Paul  clearly  shows, 
(Rom.  vi.)  we  must  not  "  sin,  that  grace  may  abound."  The 
great  error  which  perplexeth  you,  reader,  is,  that  you  limit  the 
grace  of  God  by  the  span  of  human  life,  and  suppose  this  little 
world  to  be  the  sole  theatre  of  its  operations ;  whereas  it  is  in 
fact  commensurate  with  the  breadth  of  his  dominions,  and  as  sin 
aboundeth,  that  infinite  grace  aboundeth  much  more.  (Rom.  v. 
20.)  When,  therefore,  we  shall  have  measured  the  height,  and 
depth,  and  length,  and  breadth,  of  Being,  then  shall  we  know  the 
measure  of  almighty  grace. 

Second.  The  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation  is  according  to 
the  PURPOSE  AND  PLEASURE  OF  GOD:  (Ephe.  i.  9, 
10.)  Few  are  disposed  to  deny  that  the  divine  pleasure  favours 
this  great  object,  but  very  many  doubt  its  ultimate  accomplish- 
ment nevertheless ;  but  how  speaketh  the  scripture  upon  this 
point  1  "  I  am  the  Lord,  and  there  is  none  like  me,  declaring  the 
end  from  the  beginning,  and  from  ancient  times  the  things  that 
are  not  yet  done,  saying — My  counsel  shall  stand,  and  I  will  do 
ALL  my  pleasure."  (Isaiah  xlvi.  10.)  Now  the  gathering  "  toge- 
ther in  one,"  (or  re-heading,  as  it  may  be  rendered,)  "  all  things 
in  Christ,"  whether  they  be  "  things  on  earth  or  things  in  hea- 
ven," is  said  in  the  text  to  be  "  according  to  his  good  pleasure 
which  he  hath  purposed  in  himself."  Professor  Stewart,  of  An- 
dover,  who  is  high  authority  in  matters  of  biblical  criticism, 
affirms,  that  "  things  in  earth  and  things  in  heaven,"  is  a  Hebrew 
periphrasis  for  "  the  whole  intelligent  universe ;"  now  if  this 
be  so,  the  pleasure  and  purpose  of  God  respects  the  eventual 
uniting  together  of  a  universe  of  intelligences,  through  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  and  1  think  it  extremely  probable  that  Paul  alludes 
to  the  same  important  event,  when  he  represents  "the  whole 
creation"  as  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain,  together  with  thosa 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        103 

who  were  already  in  Christ,  "  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit, 
the  redemption  of  our  body."  Observe  ;  not  our  bodies^  but  our 
bodi/,  i.  e.  the  whole  mass,  or  aggregated  family.  The  idea  is 
certainly  a  beautiful  one,  that  the  redemption  of  a  part  cannot  be 
considered  as  complete  until  the  redemption  of  the  whole  is  so ; 
for  are  we  not  members  one  of  another  1  And  if  one  member 
suffer,  doth  not  the  whole  body  suffer  with  it?  Why  else  do 
angels  themselves  sympathise  with  the  dwellers  upon  earth,  and 
rejoice  as  each  sinner  is  added  to  the  company  of  the  redeemed  ? 
I  pity  the  man  whose  heart  is  so  narrow,  and  whose  christian 
philosophy  is  so  circumscribed,  that  he  can  anticipate  a  futurity 
of  perfect  bliss  for  himself,  at  the  same  time  that  he  thinks  that 
millions,  flesh  of  his  flesh,  and  bone  of  his  bone,  will  scream  in 
ceaseless  fire ! 

To  deny  that  from  the  beginning  God  had  a  purpose  regarding 
man's  ultimate  destiny,  is  to  charge  him  with  folly,  for  none  but 
an  idiot  will  work  without  a  definite  purpose.  To  say  that  his 
purpose  respected  the  final  happiness  of  but  a  part,  is  to  charge 
him  with  cruelty.  To  say  it  respected  the  ultimate  happiness  of 
all,  and  yet  that  all  will  not  be  ultimately  happy,  is  to  represent 
him  as  impotent.  Now  the  scriptures  represent  his  purposes  as 
eternal;  (Ephe.  iii.  11.)  and  they  teach  us  that  our  salvation  in  a 
future  state  is  to  be,  not  in  accordance  with  our  works  or  merits, 
but  according  to  his  own  purpose  and  grace,  which  were  given 
us  in  Christ  Jesus  before  the  world  began.'"     (2  Tim.  i.  9.) 

It  will  here  be  objected,  that  "inasmuch  as  God  has  no  plea- 
sure in  sin,  and  yet,  contrary  to  his  approval,  it  exists,  and  has 
existed  for  centuries,  what  assurance  have  we  that  his  pleasure 
will  be  fulfilled  in  a  future  any  more  than  in  the  present  state  ?" 
I  admit  this  to  be  the  most  formidable  objection  which  can  arise 
in  this  inquiry,  and  although  I  have  more  than  once  anticipated  it 
in  my  former  pages,  yet,  as  this  seems  its  proper  place,  I  now 
again  bring  it  in  directly — the  reader  will  at  least  not  suspect  me 
of  wishing  to  keep  it  out  of  view.  That  God  has  no  pleasure  in 
sin  for  its  own  sake,  is  clear,  for  it  is  opposed  to  his  nature.  That 
he  does  not  approve  of  it  as  an  ultimate  object,  is  also  clear,  for  it 
entails  misery,  and  infinite  benevolence  did  not  create  for  such  an 
end ;  but  that  God  does  will  its  existence,  for  the  present,  and 
with  reference  to  some  future  purpose  of  goodness,  it  were  the 


104  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALTSM. 

essence  of  folly  to  deny,  for  otherwise  it  would  not  be.  When 
a  father  corrects  a  child,  has  he  pleasure  in  the  pain  he  inflicis  ? 
No.  Why  then  does  he  inflict  it  ?  Because  he  approves  the  end 
it  is  designed  to  bring  about.  Did  God  approve  of  the  betrayal, 
denial,  and  murder  of  his  son,  on  their  own  account  ?  No.  Never- 
theless, it  is  clear  from  the  scripture,  that  he  appointed  these 
events ;  and  to  what  end  ?  A  world's  redemption.  Now  would 
not  the  philosophy  have  been  weak  and  hobbling  in  the  extreme, 
which  in  Christ's  day  would  have  argued,  "  that  inasmuch  as 
God's  pleasure  had  been  violated  in  the  matter  of  his  son's  death, 
that  therefore  it  might  to  all  eternity  be  so  violated,  and  all  his 
purposes  respecting  his  rising  again,  and  ascending  to  glory,  be 
forever  baffled  ]"  You  must  see  the  weakness  of  such  reasoning 
in  that  case ;  why  not  then  in  regard  to  the  case  before  us  ?  The 
fact  that  God's  will,  pleasure,  and  purpose,  are  in  favour  of  the 
ultimate  extinction  of  sin  and  redemption  of  mankind,  warrants 
the  conclusion  that  these  objects  will  in  due  time  be  effected ;  for 
the  apostle  does  not  affirm  that  God  wills  such  a  consummation  at 
the  present,  but  "in  the  dispensation  of  the  fulness  of  times." 

Third.  This  doctrine  is  in  agreement  with  THE  PROMISE 
OF  GOD.  (Gen.  iii.  15.  Acts  iii.  25.  Ibid.  21.  Gal.  iii.  8. 
Titus  1,  2,  etc.)  We  are  often  told,  I  know,  that  the  promises 
of  God  respecting  future  blessings  are  exclusively  applicable  to 
the  righteous^  to  those  who  have  been  born  again,  &c.  but  such 
is  not  the  fact ;  for  when  Peter  was  preaching  to  the  murderers 
of  Jesus,  and  shortly  subsequent  to  the  wicked  transaction,  he 
told  them,  "  Ye  are  the  children  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the  cove- 
nant which  God  made  with  our  fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham,  In 
thee  shall  all  nations  be  blessed."  (Acts  iii.  25.)  If  the  mur- 
derers of  the  saviour  were  the  legitimate  heirs  of  this  promise, 
can  any  good  reason  be  assigned  why  any  are  not  so  ?  When 
God  is  represented  as  saying,  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  people, 
*'  For  this  is  my  covenant  with  them  when  I  shall  take  axuay 
their  sins,^^  (Rom.  xi.  27.)  are  we  to  understand  the  promise  as 
applicable  to  those  only  whose  sins  were  already  removed  1  "All 
the  ends  of  the  world  shall  remember  and  turn  unto  the  Lord  ; 
and  all  the  kindreds  of  the  nations  shall  worship  before  thee." 
(Psl.  xxii.  27.)  This,  surely,  is  not  subject  to  the  limitation  above 
noticed !    Not  only  all  the  nations  are  here  embraced,  but  all  th© 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.    ;    105 

kindreds  of  the  nations.  "  All  nations  whom  thou  hast  made  shall 
come  and  worship  before  thee,  0  Lord,  and  shall  glorify  thy 
name.  (Psl.  Ixxxvi.  9.)  If  there  are  any  nations  whom  God 
hath  not  made,  they,  to  be  sure,  are  not  included  in  this  promise. 
"  Every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall 
be  made  low,  and  the  crooked  shall  be  made  straight,  and  the 
rough  places  plain ;  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  revealed, 
and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it."  (Isaiah  xl.  5,  6.)  This  passage  cannot  (as  some 
pretend),  refer  to  the  millennium,  for  the  state  of  things  signified 
by  that  word,  it  is  supposed,  will  be  gradually  and  progressively 
eflfected ;  but  here  we  have  the  assurance  of  a  simultaneous  dis- 
covery of  the  divine  glory  on  the  part  of  all  mankind,  "  all  flesh 
shall  see  it  together.''''  Again,  the  same  prophet  saith,  "  And  in 
this  mountain  will  the  Lord  of  hosts  make  unto  all  people  a  feast 
of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  wines  on  the  lees,  of  fat  things  full  of 
marrow,  of  wines  on  the  lees  well  refined ;  and  he  will  destroy  in 
this  mountain  the  face  of  the  covering  cast  upon  all  people,  and 
the  veil  that  is  spread  over  all  nations.  He  will  swallow  up 
death  in  victory,  and  the  Lord  God  will  wipe  away  tears  from 
oflf  all  faces,  and  the  rebuke  of  his  people  will  he  take  away  from 
off  all  the  earth,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  (Isaiah  xxv.  6, 
7,  8.)  To  whatever  event  the  prophet  may  have  looked,  it  is 
certain  that  Paul  understood  the  language  as  appropriate  to  the 
era  of  the  resurrection,  for  while  writing  upon  that  theme,  he 
says,  "  And  then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is 
written.  Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory."  (1  Cor.  xv.  24.) 
And,  indeed,  to  what  other  time  or  circumstance  will  the  language 
intelligibly  apply  \  The  apostle  conceived  that  the  morning  of 
the  resurrection  would  be  one  of  unclouded  glory,  the  opening 
of  a  day  which  should  never  give  place  to  night,  an  era  of  uni- 
versal rejoicing  and  triumph.  "Who,  in  his  description,  can  find 
one  word  to  countenance  the  horrible  idea,  that  the  bursts  of  rap- 
ture, the  extatic  swells  of  praise,  shall  be  blended  with  the 
despairing  groans  of  full  three-fourths  of  a  world  1 

From  the  following  passage,  I  have  often  thought  the  revelator 
must  have  had  in  his  eye  the  promise  of  God  to  Abraham ;  and 
if  so,  he  certainly  understood  it  in  the  widest  sense  of  which  the 
language  is  susceptible.    "  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  great 


106  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

multitude  which  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations,  and  kin- 
dreds, and  people,  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne,  and  be- 
fore the  lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes  and  palms  in  their  hands; 
and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  Salvation  to  our  God  who 
sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  to  the  lamb."  (Rev.  vii.  9,  10.) 
Suppose  we  limit  this  great,  this  innumerable  multitude,  to  ^part 
only  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  peoples,  and  tongues;  even 
iCn  it  would  form  a  circumstance  against  the  doctrine  of  endless 
suffering ;  for  it  is  certain  that,  if  that  theory  be  true,  there  must 
be  many  nations  and  kindreds  out  of  which  no  part  could  be  saved. 
For  example,  all  that  were  involved  in  the  deluge ;  and  since,  the 
people  of  Sodom,  Gomorrha,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Chorazin,  Bethsaida, 
Capernaum,  &c.  beside  the  numerous  tribes  that  have  perished 
from  the  earth  in  a  condition  of  moral  darkness  and  idolatry; 
whereas  the  multitude  John  saw  was  composed  of  ALL  nations, 
kindreds,  peoples  and  tongues.  Stronger  phraseology  could 
scarcely  be  framed  for  expressing  the  entire  human  family.  If, 
however,  stronger  language  for  the  purpose  can  be  found,  we 
have  it  from  the  same  writer,  and  upon  the  same  subject,  "  And 
every  creature  which  is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under 
the  earth,  and  such  as  are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,* 
heard  I  saying,  Blessing,  and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power, 
be  unto  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the  lamb  for  ever 
and  ever."  (Ibid.  v.  13.)  Here  then  we  have  the  Psalmist's 
exhortation  reduced  to  practice,  "Let  every  thing  which  hath 
breath  praise  the  Lord."  (Psl.  cl.  6.)  What  scene  could  be 
more  fitting  for  the  winding  up  of  earth's  affairs  ?  What  com- 
mentary upon  the  text  "  God  saw  all  things  that  he  had  made, 
and  behold  they  were  very  good,"  could  be  more  beautifull 
Does  not  such  an  issue  justify  the  angelic  rejoicings  at  the  birth- 
day of  time  ■?  When  the  morning  stars  sung  together,  and  all  the 
sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy."  (Job  xxx.  7.)  A  foresight  of 
such  a  consummation  might  well  cause  all  the  arches  of  eternity  to 
echo  and  re-echo  with  rejoicing.  And  when  infinite  love  creates, 
what  rational  being  can  doubt,  that  such  will  be  the  result? 

♦  Ah  !  but  it  does  not  include  those  that  are  in  hell."  Perhaps  not.  Let  me  see. 
Are  yoj  quite  sure  that  hell  is  not  "under  the  earth?"  I  pretend  to  no  accurate 
knowledge  with  reeard  to  its  locale,  but  if  the  christian  hell  be  the  Im-des  of  tha 
heathen  poets,  which  I  shrewdly  suspect,  then  must  it  come  within  the  range  of  the 
above  passage. 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        107 

Fourth.  The  theory  of  universal  salvation  is  in  accordance 
with  the  OATH  OF  GOD.  "  Look  unto  me  and  be  ye  saved, 
all  ye  ends  of  the  earth ;  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else.  I 
have  sworn  by  myself,  the  word  has  gone  out  of  my  mouth  in 
righteousness,  and  shall  not  return,  That  unto  me  every  knee 
shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  swear.  Surely  shall  say  [I 
omit  the  words  added  by  the  translators]  in  the  Lord  have  I 
righteousness  and  strength.  Even  to  him  shall  come;  and  they 
that  are  incensed  against  him  shall  be  ashamed.  In  the  Lord  shall 
all  the  seed  of  Israel  be  justified,  and  shall  glory."  (Isaiah  xlv. 
22 — 25.)  This  is  very  absolute  and  very  unequivocal ;  it  ex- 
presses not  merely  the  fad  of  the  ultimate  salvation  of  all,  but 
also  the  nature  of  that  salvation ;  which  will  consist  in  their  be- 
ing clothed  with  divine  strength  and  righteousness ;  and  this  in- 
deed constitutes  the  essence  of  gospel  salvation  :  for  the  removal 
of  moral  beings  from  one  to  another  of  the  different  worlds  in 
the  universe  (however  agreeable  the  exchange  in  a  physical  point 
of  view)  can  make  but  little  difference  in  the  enjoyment  of  those 
beings,  except  their  moral  condition  be  suited  to  it.  Salvation 
from  sin,  therefore,  not  in  it,  is  that  for  which  we  contend  ;  when 
every  individual  shall  be  able  to  say,  "  In  the  Lord  have  I  right- 
eousness and  strength ;"  there  will  be  no  sinners  in  existence, 
and  if  no  sinners,  no  moral  suffering. 

The  great  apostle  has  given  us  the  above  prediction  in  a  version 
somewhat  different,  but  which  diminishes  nought  of  its  univer- 
sality. "  Wherefore  also  God  hath  highly  exalted  him,  and  given 
him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name  :  that  at  the  name  of 
Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things  in 
earth,  and  things  under  the  earth  ;  and  that  every  tongue  should 
confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father." 
(Phil.  ii.  9,  10,  11.)  I  know  of  but  one  scriptural  way  of  access 
to  God,  and  Christ  is  that  way.  "  No  man,"  saith  he,  "  cometh 
to  the  Father  but  by  me."  (John  xiv.  6.)  Our  opponents  tell 
us  there  is  no  change  after  death ;  and  it  is  certain  that  infants, 
and  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  yearly  pass  from  lime  ignorant 
of  the  gospel,  do  not  in  this  life  come  to  God  by  that  only  way. 
What  ground  of  assurance  have  we,  then — what  scriptural  ground, 
that  these  shall  be  saved  ?  None  whatever,  if  the  doctrine  of 
endless  misery  be  true  !     Paul,  however,  removes  the  difficulty 


108  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

satisfactorily  ;  he  shows  us  that  the  time  will  come  when  every 
knee  shall  bow  in  allegiance  to  God,  and  every  tongue  so  confess 
Christ  as  that  God  shall  be  glorified.  It  would  not  be  to  God's 
glory,  surely,  to  extort  (as  our  opponents  affirm  he  will)  an  in- 
voluntary confession  from  finite  creatures.  Omnipotence  glorified 
by  forcing  an  acknowledgement  from  worms !  Yet  such  is  the 
meager  and  grovelling  view  which  some  seem  to  entertain  on 
this  head. 

Fifth.  God  is  expressly  called  "  THE  SAVIOUR  OF  ALL 
MEN."  (1  Tim.  iv.  10.)  In  what  sense  can  he  be  consistently 
so  called,  except  in  a  final  sense  ?  All  surely  are  not  saved  now  ,- 
they  are  not  saved  from  sin,  suffering,  death — nor,  if  the  doctrine 
of  ceaseless  suffering  be  true,  from  hell,  for  thousands  are  hourly 
descending  thither.  I  am  aware  that  it  is  assumed  by  some  that 
he  is  the  saviour  of  all  men  merely  by  having  placed  them  in  a 
salvable  state:  but  then  I  also  know  that  this  is  sheer  nonsense  ; 
for  if  they  had  ever  been  out  of  a  salvable  condition,  they  could 
never  have  been  put  into  it.  Would  a  sensible  physician  talk  of 
putting  an  incurable  patient  into  a  curable  state  ?  Men  were 
either  always  salvable,  or  they  were  not ;  if  they  were  not,  they 
could  not  be  mad&  so ;  if  they  were,  they  did  not  require  to  be 
made  so. 

But  what  is  meant  by  God  being  the  saviour  "  especially  of 
them  that  believe  1"  Whatever  it  may  mean,  it  certainly  does  not 
that  he  is  their  saviour  only,  for  he  is  also  "  the  saviour  of  all 
men."  If  I  save  ten,  out  of  a  score  of  persons,  from  a  burning 
house,  or  any  other  danger,  am  I  warranted  in  calling  myself  the 
saviour  of  the  score  ?  I  can  surely  not  be  considered  the  saviour 
of  the  portion  that  perished  !  And  although  I  had  made  great  ex- 
ertions for  the  rescue  of  the  whole,  still  I  was  in  fact  but  the  de- 
liverer of  those  who  by  my  means  were  actually  delivered.  The 
true  meaning,  however,  of  God  being  called  "  the  saviour  of  all 
men,  especially  of  them  that  believe,"  is,  that  the  latter  class  are 
saved  in  the  present  life,  while  the  former  are  not — the  latter  are 
entered  into  rest,  (Heb.  iv.  3.)  but  unbelievers  are  yet  in  the  wil- 
derness of  sin  and  consequent  trouble — the  latter  class  are  justified 
by  faith,  and  have  peace  with  God,  (Rom.  v.  1.)  but  unbelievers 
are  "  without  God,  and  without  hope  in  the  world" — the  latter 
class  are  quickened  from  a  death  in  trespasses  and  sin  (Eph.  ii.  1.) 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES  109 

but  unbelievers  are  still  in  death  and  condemnation.  Here  then 
is  the  special  salvation,  in  contradistinction  from  that  which  ia 
common  to  all,  or  to  which  mankind  are  destined  in  common. 

It  will  not  do  for  the  Calvinist  to  seek  a  subterfuge  here  in  the 
assumption,  that  all  does  not  mean  all ;  for,  however  such  plea 
may  avail  him  in  some  instances,  it  cannot  in  this;  nor,  indeed, 
in  scarcely  any  where  salvation  is  concerned,  which  shall  be  made 
sufficiently  evident.  "  And  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  and 
not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world." 
(1  John  ii.  2.)  Here  a  part  is  spoken  of  in  distinction  from  the 
whole,  and  both  the  whole  and  the  part  are  embraced  in  the  pro- 
pitiation treated  of.  How,  then,  can  any  be  endlessly  damned 
for  those  sins  for  which  Christ  has  propitiated  ?  It  will  perhaps 
be  assumed  that  "  these  are  our  original  sins  only."  It  is  easy 
making  assumptions,  but  those  who  thus  assume  must  be  greatly 
indebted  to  our  good  grace  if  we  allow  it ;  for  there  is  not  in  the 
scripture  one  particle  of  warrant  for  it,  either  direct  or  implied. 
"  Thou  hast  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  his  feet,  for  in  that 
he  put  all  things  in  subjection  under  him,  he  left  nothing  that  is 
not  put  under  him."  (Heb.  ii.  8.)  Here  all  things  are  contrasted 
with  no  thing.  What  language  could  be  more  clearly  universal 
in  its  signification?  And  their  being  put  in  subjection  under 
Christ  cannot  mean  merely  that  his  power  over  them  is  established, 
for  that  is  the  case  at  present ;  (all  power  is  given  unto  him  in 
heaven  and  in  earth.  Matt,  xxviii.  18.) ;  it  implies  a  subjection 
of  a  different  kind — a  moral  subjection — reconciliation — allegiance. 

"  But,"  says  an  objector,  "  there  must  be  some  mistake  here, 
for  in  looking  over  the  world  we  find  very  many  who  both 
live  and  die  without  manifesting  any  subjection  to  Christ — how 
then  can  it  be  that  all  are  put  under  him,  in  the  sense  for  which 
you  contend  1"  Now  it  so  happens,  that  the  apostle  has  antici- 
pated this  very  objection.  "  But  now,"  saith  he,  "  we  see  not  yet 
all  things  put  under  him — But  we  see  Jesus,  who  was  made  a 
little  lower  than  the  angels,  for  the  suffering  of  death,  crowned 
■with  glory  and  honor,  that  he  by  the  grace  of  God  should  taste 
death  for  every  man."  (ibid.)  The  fact,  then,  it  seems,  of 
Christ  having  died  for  all,  was  considered  by  the  writer  a  sufli- 
cient  guarantee,  that  the  universal  subjection  which  it  was  de- 
signed to  effect,  shall  infallibly  be  brought  about. 

Vol.  I.— K 


110  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNI  VERBALISM. 

In  the  following  text,  the  absolute  sense  which  the  apostle 
means  to  convey  by  the  word  all,  is,  if  possible,  still  more  expli- 
citly established.  "  For  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  because 
we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  fur  all,  then  all  were  dead — and 
that  he  died  for  all."  (2  Cor.  v.  14.)  According  to  the  argument 
here,  if  one  did  not  die  for  all,  then  all  were  not  dead — if  he  died 
for  a  part  only,  then  that  part  only  were  dead  ;  but  "  he  died  for 

aur 

The  same  writer,  in  his  letter  to  Timothy,  exhorts  that  besides 
praying  to  God  for  kings,  and  others  in  authority,  "  that  supplica- 
tions, prayers,  and  giving  of  thanks,  be  made  unto  God  for  all 
men."  Will  any  think  of  limiting  the  word  all  in  this  instance  1 
The  object  of  so  praying  for  all  is  stated  to  be,  "  that  we  may 
lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  honesty.  For 
this  is  good  and  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  our  saviour,  who 
will  have  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth.  For  there  is  one  God,  and  one  mediator  betwixt  God  and 
man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all, 
to  be  testified  in  due  time."  (1  Tim.  ii.  1 — 8.)  The  same  all  for 
whom  it  is  our  duty  to  pray,  are  also  subjects  for  whom  Christ 
died,  and  mediates  ;  and  whom  God  will  have  to  be  saved. 
Mark,  the  truth  is  here  represented  as  agreeing  with  the  salvation 
of  all — and,  of  course,  as  disagreeing  with  the  ultimate  damnation 
of  any — for  if  any  portion  of  the  human  race  is  to  be  finally  lost, 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth  would  not  consist  with  the  salvation  of 
that  portion — as  that  truth  could  only  teach  them  that  they  were 
to  be  damned.  The  object  of  God's  will  in  that  case  would  be 
an  impossibility,  (and  it  does  not  consist  with  infinite  wisdom  to 
will  impossibilities,)  for  only  that  part  of  mankind  could  be 
saved  by  coming  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  with  whose  salva- 
tion that  truth  agreed. 

It  may  here  be  said  that  the  command  to  pray  for  all,  may  not 
have  been  meant  in  an  universal  sense,  for  Christ  expressly  says, 
on  one  occasion,  "  I  pray  not  for  the  world."  True,  Christ  was 
then  praying  particularly  for  his  apostles,  that  they  might  be  kept 
together,  and  guarded  against  the  allurements  of  a  wicked  world. 
But  read  on,  "  Neither  pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also 
which  shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word."  Here  you  per- 
ceive the  petition  takes  a  wider  compass.    Proceed  farther,  "  that 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        Ill 

ihe  world  may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me,"  and  again,  "  that 
the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me."  (John  xvii.  9 — 23.) 
We  find,  then,  that  the  saviour  does  include  all  men  in  his  prayer ; 
and,  what  think  you,  reader,  will  the  object  of  that  prayer  ever 
be  fulfilled  ? 

Let  us  go  next  to  those  passages  in  which  the  number  to  be 
saved,  is  made  to  correspond  to  the  number  that  have  sinned. 
"  All  have  sinned,  and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God."  Well, 
what  further  concerning  those  all  \  "  Being  jxistified  freely  by 
his  grace,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  (Rom. 
iii.  23,  24.)  "For  as  by  the  oflTence  of  one  judgment  came  upon 
all  men  to  condemnation,  even  so,  by  the  righteousness  of  one  the 
free  gift  came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life."  (ibid.  v.  18.) 
It  is  immediately  added,  "  For  as  by  one  man's  disobedience 
many  were  made  sinners,  so  by  the  obedience  of  one  shall  many 
be  made  righteous."  (ibid.  19.)  The  same  many  that  were 
made  sinners  shall — not  may  he — perhaps,  or  perchance — but  shall 
be  made  righteous.  Say  if  you  please  this  many  means  but  a 
part.  Well,  then  a  part  became  sinners,  and  that  part  shall  be 
made  righteous,  and  the  part  which  did  not  become  sinners  of 
course  does  not  need  to  be  made  righteous,  so  that  we  are  brought 
to  the  same  result  at  last — all  shall  be  made  righteous — God's  oath, 
as  before  shown,  is  pledged  for  it — and  the  prayers  of  Christ,  and 
of  every  benevolent  heart,  are  centered  on  it.  But  a  remark 
touching  that  word  many  ;  it  does  not  properly  represent  the  Greek 
term,  which  should  have  been  rendered  the  mass,  or  the  multitude, 
as  is  evident  both  from  what  goes  before  and  follows ;  for  Paul 
is  laboring  to  show  that  the  provision  of  divine  grace  is  com- 
mensurate with  the  demand  for  it,  and  even  more  than  commen- 
surate, for  the  divine  determination  was,  that  man  might  be 
fully  aware  of  his  dependence  and  sinfulness,  and  to  this  end  the 
law  was  given  to  gauge  the  depth  of  his  guilt,  and  throw  him 
upon  the  mercy  of  God  for  deliverance;  hence  saith  the  apostle, 
"  Moreover  the  law  entered  that  the  offence  might  abound,  but 
where  sin  abounded  grace  did  much  more  abound,  that  as  sin  hath 
reigned  unto  death,  even  so  might  grace  reign  through  righteous- 
ness, unto  eternal  life,  by  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord."  (ibid  20,  21.) 
"  God  hath  concluded  them  all  in  unbelief,  that  he  might  have 
mercy  upon  all."  (ibid.  xi.  32.)     "For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even 


112  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

SO  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive."  (1  Cor.  xv.  22.)  The  word 
Adam  here  doubtless  means,  the  fleshly  nature  we  possess  from 
him,  in  which  nature  we  all  die.  Christ  stands  for  the  heavenly 
nature,  and  in  it  we  shall  all  be  made  alive.  "And  as  we  have 
borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of 
the  heavenly."  (Ibid.  49.)  From  all  these  instances  it  must  be 
manifest,  that  the  word  all,  when  applied  to  man's  salvation,  re- 
quires to  be  understood  in  its  strict  and  absolute  sense,  and  hence^ 
as  God  is  called  '•  the  saviour  of  all  men,"  the  entire  race  must 
ultimately  be  saved. 

Sixth.  Christ  is  called  "  the  saviour  of  the  world."  (John  iv. 
42.)  The  only  saviour  of  men,  in  a  supreme  sense,  is  Jehovah 
himself;  Christ  is  such  only  in  an  instrumental  sense.  "  Him 
hath  God  exalted  to  be  a  prince  and  a  saviour."  (Acts  v.  31.) 
"  We  believe,  and  do  testify,  that  the  Father  sent  the  Son  to  be 
the  saviour  of  the  world."  (1  John  iv.  14.)  And  if  the  world 
at  the  last  is  not  saved,  it  is  clear  that  Christ  will  have  failed  of 
carrying  into  effect  the  object  of  his  mission ;  his  own  testimony 
informs  us,  that  this  was  his  main  business.  "For  God  sent  not 
his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world 
through  him  might  be  saved."  (John  iii.  17.)  And  again,  he 
saith,  "  For  I  came  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will, 
but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.  And  this  is  the  Father's  will 
which  hath  sent  me,  that  of  all  that  he  hath  given  me  I  should 
lose  nothing,  but  should  raise  it  up  again  at  the  last  day.  (Ibid, 
vi.  38,  39.)  In  another  place,  he  speaks  of  having  lost  one,  "the 
son  of  perdition,"  from  among  the  number  of  the  apostles;  but  he 
here  declares,  that  nothing  is  to  be  so  lost  as  not  to  be  at  length 
recovered. 

It  behooves  us  then  to  inquire,  what  is  the  extent  of  the  gift  from 
the  Father  to  the  Son  1  Let  the  scriptures  answer.  "  The  Father 
loveth  the  Son,  and  hath  given  all  things  into  his  hands."  (John 
iii.  25.)  "  Whom  he  hath  made  heir  of  all  things."  (Heb.  i.  2.) 
"All  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine."  (John  xvi.  15.)  And  he 
is  not  to  lose  any  so  given  him,  but  that  he  shall  raise  them  up 
again  at  the  last  day.  God  would  hardly,  methinks,  have  com- 
mitted all  things  to  the  hands  of  Christ  with  a  foresight  that  they 
would  be  unsafe  in  his  custody !  And,  more  especially,  as  he 
committed  them  to  him  with  the  express  design  that  he  should 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        113 

(gave  them  !  Now,  if  the  theory  of  endless  suflfering  be  true,  at 
the  time  God  gave  all  things  to  Christ  he  knew  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  them  would  become  the  property  of  the  devil,  and  that 
the  devil  could  never  be  made  to  relinquish  his  possession  of 
them.     A  singular  gift,  truly  ! 

"Ah!  but  the  world  is  so  sinful;  how  can  Christ  save  it]" 
Answer.  He  "  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  (John  i.  29.) 
"  But  suppose  they  will  not  come  to  him — how  then  ?  Christ 
shall  answer,  "  And  I,  when  I  shall  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  (John  xii.  32.)  "  What!  whether 
they  repent,  or  are  reconciled  to  God,  or  not  ?"  No.  "  It  pleased 
the  Father  that  in  him  should  all  fulness  dwell,  and  (having 
made  peace  by  the  blood  of  the  cross)  by  him  to  reconcile  all 
things  unto  himself,  by  him,  I  say,  whether  they  be  things  in 
earth  or  things  in  heaven."  (Col.  i.  19,  20.)  And,  moreover, 
Christ  is  exalted  to  give  repentance  and  remission  of  sin."  (Acts 
V.  31.)  Peter  told  not  the  Jews  that  Christ  would  bless  them  in 
their  iniquities,  but  "  by  turning  away  every  one  of  you /rom  your 
iniquities."     (Acts  iii.  26.) 

Some  of  the  allegories  of  the  saviour  are  rich  in  instructioa 
upon  this  head ;  for  example,  A  man  lost  one  sheep  out  of  a  flock 
of  a  hundred  ;  not  willing  to  lose  even  that  one,  "  he  left  the 
ninety  and  nine  in  the  wilderness,"  and  started  in  pursuit  of  the 
straggler;  "he  sought  it;"  how  Ions'?  "until  he  had  found  it." 

Oct  '  O  '  O 

Well,  having  found  it,  how  did  he  proceed  1  Did  he  say,  "  Well, 
I  have  done  my  part;  I  have  been  at  the  pains  to  seek  you,  and 
BOW,  you  are  a  free  agent,  I  will  not  compel  you  to  return,  but 
you  may  come  if  you  choose,  or  otherwise  you  may  stay  where 
you  are  and  perish  ]"  No,  the  shepherd  acted  in  no  such  wise 
as  that ;  the  lost  one,  by  long  rambling,  had  doubtless  become 
weak  and  diseased,  and  quite  unable  to  return  of  itself,  (as,  by 
our  opponents'  confession,  is  also  the  case  with  man,)  so  the  kind- 
hearted  shepherd  took  it  upon  his  shoulders  and  carried  it  home, 
rejoicing  at  his  recovery  of  his  lost  property.  And  the  moral  of 
this  beautiful  parable  is,  that  among  the  angels  of  bliss  there  is 
more  joy  in  the  contemplation  of  one  sinner  saved,  than  in  that 
of  ninety  and  nine  unfallen  beings  who  had  never  by  wandering 
excited  their  sympathies.     All  which  is  as  natural  as  beautiful. 

If  angels  are  thus  affected  by  what  transpires  on  earth,  think 

Vol,  I.— k  2 


114  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

you  that  they  have  no  sympathies  for  those  who  groan  in 
hell  1  And  it  the  heart  of  the  saviour  was  so  affected  at  the  grave 
of  a  friend  that  he  wept,  and  at  the  prospect  of  temporal  over- 
throw to  a  city,  that  he  broke  into  passionate  lamentation,  will  he 
be  altogether  unaffected  by  the  utter  and  hopeless  ruin  of  three- 
fourths  of  a  world,  for  whose  redemption  he  gave  his  life  1  We, 
at  least,  have  inspired  assurance,  that  he  is  "  the  same  yesterday, 
to-day,  and  for  ever."     (Heb.  xiii.  8.) 

Seventh.  The  consideration  of  particular  cases,  as  they  are 
disposed  of  in  the  scriptures,  makes  decidedly  in  favour  of  the 
Universalist  faith.  The  case  of  the  Sodomites,  for  example,  dark 
as  it  looks  under  some  of  its  aspects,  is  nevertheless  put  before 
us  in  the  scriptures  in  a  light  which  warrants  the  belief  of  its 
ultimately  salutary  termination.  The  same  is  true  with  regard  to 
the  Jews  ;  but  let  us  look  at  them  separately. 

The  Sodomites,  with  the  people  of  Gomorrha,  were  destroyed 
with  fire  from  heaven ;  and  are  said  in  Jude,  verse  7th,  to  be  "  set 
forth  for  an  example,  suffering  the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire  ;'* 
from  which  many  are  led  to  the  supposition  that  their  suffering 
must  be  unceasing ;  but  this  is  a  mistake,  or  the  bible  is  contra- 
dictory, for  1st,  Jeremiah  the  prophet  avers  that  the  temporal 
calamities  of  the  Jews,  in  his  day,  constituted  a  heavier  retribu- 
tion than  what  had  befallen  the  Sodomites,  which  surely  could 
not  be  if  that  of  the  latter  were  unending  in  hell.  I  will  give  you 
his  language.  "  For  the  punishment  of  the  iniquity  of  the  daughter 
of  my  people,  is  greater  than  the  punishment  of  the  sin  of  Sodom, 
that  was  overthrown  as  in  a  moment,  and  no  hand  stayed  on  her.^'' 
(Lam.  iv.  6.)  Do  you  believe  this  %  If  so,  you  cannot  at  the 
same  time  believe  that  the  punishment  of  the  latter  is  unceasing. 
2nd.  See  what  God  says  by  another  prophet.  He  declares  Jeru- 
salem's sins  to  be  greater  than  those  of  Sodom  ;  (Eze.  xvi.  48, 
49.)  and  if  so,  was  it  not  just  that  her  punishment  should  be 
greater]  He  compares  Jerusalem  to  a  woman,  whose  elder 
sister  is  Samaria  and  the  towns  adjacent;  and  whose  younger 
sister  is  Sodom  and  her  neighbouring  towns.  (Ibid.  45,  46.) 
He  then  says,  "When  I  shall  bring  again  their  captivity,  the 
captivity  of  Sodom  and  her  daughters,  and  the  captivity  of  Sama- 
ria and  her  daughters,  then  will  I  bring  again  thy  captivity  in  the 
Adst  of  them."  (verse  53.)     "  When  thy  sisters,  Sodom  and  her 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        115 

daughters,  shall  return  to  their  former  state,  and  Samaria  and 
her  daughters  shall  return  to  their  former  state,  then  thou  and  thy 
daughters  shall  return  to  your  former  estate."  (57.)  "  Neverthe- 
less," he  concludes,  "  I  will  remember  thy  covenant  with  thee  in 
the  days  of  thy  youth,  and  I  will  establish  unto  thee  an  everlast- 
ing covenant;  then  thou  shalt  remember  thy  ways  and  be  ashamed, 
when  thou  shalt  receive  thy  sisters,  thine  elder  and  thy  younger, 
and  I  will  give  them  unto  thee  for  daughters,  but  not  by  thy 
covenant;  and  I  will  establish  my  covenant  with  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  know  that  I  am  the  Lord."  (60,  61,  62.)  Thus  much  for 
the  case  of  Sodom ;  and  to  me,  it  is  strange  beyond  expression, 
that  persons  professing  a  belief  in  the  bible,  should  in  the  face  of 
such  testimony  maintain  that  the  inhabitants  of  that  and  its  neigh- 
boring cities,  (containing,  without  doubt,  human  beings  of  every 
age,  from  hoary  hairs  to  lisping  infancy,)  were  doomed  to  inter- 
minable perdition ! 

Now  for  the  Jews.  Was  Paul  a  believer  in  their  ultimate  sal- 
vation ]  What,  then,  means  the  anxiety  expressed  in  the  follow- 
ing language?  "  Brethren,  my  heart's  desire,  and  prayer  to  God 
for  Israel,  is  that  they  might  be  saved."  (Rom.  x.  1.)  And  the 
following  is  even  more  expressive  of  anxiety :  "  I  say  the  truth 
in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also  bearing  me  witness  in  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have  great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in 
my  heart,  for  I  could  wish  that  myself  were  accursed  from  Christ 
for  my  brethren,  my  kinsmen,  according  to  the  flesh."  (Ibid.  ix. 
1,  2,  3.)  This  language,  dear  reader,  is  easily  accounted  for 
without  resolving  it  into  the  fears  he  entertained  for  their  fate 
beyond  the  grave;  for,  on  that  head,  as  shall  be  shown,  he  had 
no  fears  whatever.  But  they  were  in  darkness;  in  spiritual  as 
well  as  civil  bondage;  they  had  filled  up  their  measure  of  wick- 
edness, heavy  temporal  judgments  hung  over  them,  the  loss  of 
their  political  and  ecclesiastical  existence,  war,  famine,  pestilence, 
captivity,  dispersion  amongst  all  nations,  &c.  Is  it  to  be  won- 
dered at  that,  in  view  of  these  calamities,  the  apostle's  heart 
should  have  been  affected  in  the  manner  described  1  I  trow  not. 
But  as  to  their  final  destiny  beyond  death,  it  is  clearly  settled 
by  the  pen  of  inspiration.  Isaiah  says,  "In  the  Lord  shall  allth& 
seed  of  Israel  he  justified,  and  shall  glory."  (Isa.  xlv.  25.)  The 
same  prophet  has  recorded  God's  promise  to  that  people,  and  Paul 


116  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

has  quoted  it  entire :  *'  For  this  is  the  covenant  that  I  will  matte 
with  the  house  of  Israel  after  those  days,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will 
put  my  laws  into  their  mind,  and  write  them  in  their  hearts,  and 
I  will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a  people,  and 
they  shall  not  teach  every  man  his  neighbour,  and  every  man  his 
brother,  saying,  know  the  Lord,  for  all  shall  know  me  from  the 
least  unto  the  greatest ;  for  I  will  be  merciful  to  their  unrighteous- 
ness, and  their  sins  and  their  iniquities  will  I  remember  no  more." 
(Heb.  viii.  10,  11,  12.)  See  also  what  is  said  in  Romans,  chap- 
ter 11th :  The  blindness  of  Israel  is  to  continue  until  the  fullness 
of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in,  "  And  so  all  Israel  shall  he  saved^  as 
it  is  written,  there  shall  come  out  of  Zion  the  deliverer,  who  shall 
turn  avray  ungodliness  from  Jacob,  for  this  is  my  covenant  unto 
them  when  I  shall  take  away  their  sins  ;  as  concerning  the  gospel 
they  are  enemies  for  your  sake,  but  as  concerning  election  they 
are  beloved  for  the  fathers'  sake.  For  as  ye  in  times  past  have 
not  believed  God,  but  have  now  obtained  mercy  through  their  un- 
belief, even  so  have  these  also  now  not  believed,  that  through 
your  mercy  they  also  might  obtain  mercy ;  for  God  hath  concluded 
them  all  in  unbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all."  (Rom. 
xi.  26—32.) 

From  the  above  testimony  it  must  be  exceedingly  evident  that 
Paul  has  no  anxieties  about  the  ultimate  destiny  of  his  nation ; 
but  he  was,  nevertheless,  most  earnestly  solicitous  for  their  present 
salvation  ;  and  surely  there  is  nothing  strange  nor  singular  in  the 
fact  of  his  solicitude.  As  a  universalist  minister,  I  certainly 
have  no  fears  about  the  ultimate  destiny  of  the  world  :  neverthe- 
less, I  am  willing  to  go  as  far,  forego  as  much,  and  endure  as 
much,  to  effect  the  present  deliverance  of  the  human  race  from 
ignorance,  superstition,  and  the  bondage  of  guilt,  and  to  bring 
them  to  the  enjoyment  of  gospel  blessedness,  as  is  any  one  who 
conceives  their  transmundane  state  to  depend  on  such  deliverance. 

"  But  all  are  not  Israel  that  are  of  Israel,"  the  quibbler  will 
here  say,  "  and  therefore,  we  need  not  understand  these  promises 
as  referring  to  the  whole  Jewish  nation."  True  ;  both  Isaac,  and 
Ishmael,  were  of  Israel,  that  is,  they  were  both  children  of  Abra- 
ham ;  but  God's  decree  was,  ♦'  In  Isaac  shall  thy  seed  be  called,'* 
and  Ishmael,  therefore,  instead  of  being  numbered  with  Isreal, 
became  the  head  of  another,  and  distinct  people.     Can  any  body 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        117 

tell  me  what  in  the  world  this  circumstance  has  to  do  with  the 
case  before  us  1  That  Paul  was  not  speaking  of  Israel  in  any 
such  restricted  sense  is  exceedingly  obvious.  "  All  Israel  shall 
be  saved,"  the  same  Israel  that  were  yet  in  their  sins,  that  "  were 
blinded,"  that  were  "  enemies  to  the  gospel,"  that  were  all  "  con- 
cluded in  unbelief."  And  this  is  to  be  effected  when  "  the  full- 
ness of  the  gentiles  be  come  in."  The  whole  race  of  man,  in 
those  days,  were  included  in  those  two  classes ;  and  consequently 
the  whole  Jewish  people,  with  the  fullness  of  the  gentiles,  con- 
stituted the  sum  of  the  entire  human  family. 

Mercy,  then,  mercy  to  every  individual,  forms  the  ground  of 
all  the  divine  dispensations  in  regard  to  man,  whether  he  lifteth  up, 
or  casteth  down  ;  blinds,  or  enlightens ;  elects  or  reprobates  :  the 
ultimate  end  is  mercy,  mercy  to  each,  mercy  to  all.  "  0  the 
depth  of  the  riches,  both  of  the  knowledge  and  wisdom  of  God, 
how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments,  and  his  ways  past  finding 
out !  For  who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord  ]  or  who  hath 
been  his  counsellor  1  or  who  hath  first  given  unto  him  and  it 
shall  be  recompensed  unto  him  again  ?  For  of  him,  and  through 
him,  and  to  him,  are  all  things.  To  whom  be  glory  for  ever, 
amen." 

As  God  is  the  first  beginning,  so  shall  he  also  be  the  last  end, 
of  all  things  ;  all  have  come  from  him,  so  all  shall  eventually  revert 
to  him.  You  have  seen,  reader,  a  tiny  rivulet  in  the  far-off  wil 
derness,  so  small  as  scarcely  to  make  a  murmur  as  it  rippled  over 
the  pebbles  in  its  channel,  and  clear,  oh,  how  clear !  how  limpid  ! 
Whither  doth  it  journey  1  Would  you  guess  to  the  ocean,  some 
hundreds,  perhaps  thousands  of  miles  distant  ]  You  know  that 
such  is  its  destination,  and  why  ?  because  the  ocean  is  its  native 
home,  its  birth  place,  it  first  emigrated  from  thence  to  the  clouds, 
in  the  form  of  mist,  from  thence  it  was  precipitated  to  terra-firma, 
in  the  form  of  rain ;  and  it  hid  itself  awhile,  seeking  a  retreat 
from  the  stormy  world,  in  subterranean  cavities ;  but  they  proved 
cold  and  comfortless  hiding  places,  and  it  soon  again  sought  the 
light  in  the  shape  of  springs,  and  is  hastening  home  as  fast  as  it 
can.  The  story  of  this  rivulet  bears  some  resemblance  to  our 
own ;  we  emanated  from  God,  the  infinite  ocean  of  existence,  he 
is  the  "  Father  of  our  spirits,"  and  how  widely  soever  we  may 
8ince  have  roamed,  and  whatever  the  mutations  through  which 


118  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

we  may  have  passed,  still  kindred  substances  have  a  mutual 
attraction  for  each  other ;  the  liberated  spark  will  seek  the  sun, 
and  waters  unconfined  will  seek  the  ocean  :  in  like  manner,  when 
the  body  returns  to  the  dust  whence  it  came,  "  the  spirit  shall 
return  to  the  God  that  gave  it."  "  For  of  him,  and  through  him, 
and  to  him,  are  all  things.     To  whom  be  glory  for  ever,  amen.." 

Eighth.  Universal  salvation  is  also  evident  from  the  fact, 
•at  sin,  death f  hell,  the  devil,  works  of  the  devil,  error,  &c.,  are  to 
be  destroyed  ;  for  how  can  misery  be,  after  all  its  elements  are 
extinct  ?  With  respect  to  sin,  as  has  been  shown  already,  it 
cannot  forever  exist  in  opposition  to  divine  holiness;  David  prays, 
"  O,  let  the  wickedness  of  the  wicked  come  to  an  end,"  (Psl. 
vii.  9.)  and  such  must  surely  be  the  desire  of  every  righteous 
person,  and  the  more  so  in  proportion  as  he  is  righteous ;  we, 
however,  are  desirous  that  it  should  cease  at  once,  and  immedi- 
ately, because  we  cannot  see  how  God  can  overrule  it  for  good 
results  ;  but  this,  God  in  his  own  time  will  show.  The  prophet 
Daniel,  associates  with  the  anointing  of  Messiah,  the  designs  of 
God  "  to  finish  the  transgression,  and  to  make  an  end  of  sin,  and 
to  make  reconciliation  for  iniquity,  and  to  bring  in  an  everlasting 
righteousness  ;"  (Dan.  ix.  24.)  and,  indeed,  this  is  the  uniform 
testimony  with  respect  to  the  object  of  God  in  the  gift  of  his  son ; 
*'  God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  himself."  (2  Cor. 
V.  19.)     But  in  order  to  a  reconciliation,  sin  must  be  removed. 

That  death  is  to  be  abolished,  several  scriptures  and  considera- 
tions go  to  prove.  It  is  customary  for  the  inspired  penmen  to 
consider,  as  already  done,  whatsoever  Christ  came  to  do  ;  because 
they  regarded  his  power  as  adequate  to  the  full  accomplishment 
of  the  work  assigned  him :  hence,  Paul  speaks  of  him  as  having 
*'  abolished  death,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  the 
gospel."  (2  Tim.  1.  10.)  The  same  writer  affirms,  that  "  the 
last  enemy  shall  be  destroyed,  DEATH."  (1  Cor.  xv.  26.)  I 
leave  out  of  this  text  the  two  spurious  words,  as  they  are  not 
necessary  to,  but  rather  tend  to  weaken  its  sense.  "  Then  shall 
be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written,  Death  is  swallowed 
up  in  victory."  (ibid.)  After  the  last  enemy  is  destroyed,  there 
will  of  course  be  none  remaining,  and  the  declaration  that  thia 
shall  take  place  is  absolute.  It  is  easy  seeing  then,  that  the 
assumption  that  "  eternal  life  implies  eternal  death,"  is  falla- 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        119 

cious ;  for,  to  leave  out  of  view  the  scripture  testimony  to  the 
controversy,  it  is  refutable  on  logical  ground  alone.  If  eternal 
life  imply  eternal  death  in  a  prospective  sense,  it  also  must  in  a 
retrospective -J  if,  because  life  always  shall  be,  death  must  always 
be  also  ;  then  it  follows  that  as  life  always  has  been,  death  also 
must  always  Aat?e  been',  but  when  life  resided  in  God  alone,  in 
whom  did  death  reside  1  Answer  that,  ye  who  contend  for  death's 
eternity,  on  the  ground  that  life  is  eternal.  Life  has  its  well- 
spring  in  the  nature  of  Jehovah  ;  let  the  source  be  dried  up,  and 
the  empire  of  death  will  be  universal.  Death  results  from  mor- 
tal constitutions ;  when  these  have  ceased,  death  must  cease  of 
course,  and  be  "  swallowed  up  in  victory." 

Hell  is  fated  to  the  same  end.  God  says  by  the  prophet,  "  I  will 
ransom  them  from  the  power  of  Sheol,  (grave  or  hell)  I  will 
redeem  them  from  death.  O  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues.  O 
Sheol,  I  will  be  thy  destruction."  (Hosea  xiii.  14.)  John's  de- 
scription, (highly  figurative,  unquestionably,)  must  refer  to  the 
same  event.  "  And  death  and  Hades  were  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire,  this  is  the  second  death. ^^  (Rev.  xx.  16.)  Here  the  destruc- 
tion of  death  itself,  is  termed  the  second  death.  As  saith  the 
Poet, 

"  And  pains,  and  groans,  and  griefs,  and  fears, 

And  death  itself  shall  die." 

Paul  broadly  intimates  the  destructioa  of  Hades,  in  the  triumph- 
ant challenge,  "  0  Hades,  where  is  thy  victory?"  (1  Cor.  xxvi.) 
It  were  victory  enough  to  retain  within  its  dark  domain,  unnumber- 
ed myriads  of  God's  family ;  and  if  such  is  indeed  to  prove  the 
case,  the  challenge  of  the  apostle  could,  on  the  part  of  Hades,  be 
triumphantly  responded  to.  But  this  shall  not  prove  the  case, 
for  God's  word  has  gone  out  for  its  destruction,  and  the  decree  is 
past  revocation,  for  saith  God,  "  Repentance  shall  be  hid  from 
mine  eyes."  Happy,  glorious  event !  "  0,  thou  enemy,  de- 
structions shall  come  to  a  perpetual  end."  Here,  indeed,  will  be 
a  triumph  worthy  of  almighty  grace,  a  triumph  of  triumphs ! 
"Thou  hast  ascended  on  high,  thou  hast  led  captivity  captive, 
thou  hast  received  gifts  for  men,  yea,  for  the  rebellious  also,  that 
the  Lord  God  might  dwell  among  them."  (Psl.  Ixviii.  18.)  O, 
Hades!  thy  grim  and  direful  reign  must  close,  when. almighty 
love  comes  to  resume  the  sceptre  of  universal  empire,  and  little 


120  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

as  the  prospect  of  thy  final  discomfiture  may  be  relished  by  those 
who  fancy  that  to  them  are  entrusted  the  keys  of  thy  dreary 
portals,  yet  come  it  must  at  last,  and  thy  grim  associate,  death; 
shall  share  in  thine  overthrow,  as  he  shared  in  thy  triumphs. 

"  Break  down,  ye  separating  hills, 
Let  sin  and  death  remove  ; 
Tis  love  that  drives  my  chariot  veheels, 
And  death  must  yield  to  love." 

Alike  doom  awaits  the  devil,  (which  means  an  adversary,  any 
adversary,)  "  Forasmuch,  then,  as  the  children  were  partakers 
of  flesh  and  blood,  he  also  himself  likewise  took  part  of  the 
same,  that  through  death,  he  might  destroy  him  that  had  the 
power  of  death,  that  is  the  devil,  and  deliver  them  who  through  the 
fear  of  death,  were  all  their  life-time  subject  to  bondage."  (Heb. 
ii.  14 — 15)  The  devil,  poor  fellow  !  has  had  a  hard  fortune  from 
the  beginning;  but  here  is  a  long  good  night  to  his  troubles. 

The  works  of  the  devil  are  also  among  the  subjects  doomed  to 
eventual  extinction.  "For  this  purpose  the  son  of  God  was 
manifested,  that  he  might  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil." 
(1  John  iii.  8.)  That  sin  is  a  work  of  the  devil,  introduced  by 
his  instrumentality,  will  not  be  disputed ;  neither  will  it  be  doubt- 
ed that  misery  of  all  kinds  flows  from  sin.  (I  mean  that  by  our 
opponents  this  will  not  be  doubted — we  believe  that  there  is  much 
misery  which  is  not  consequent  of  sin.)  If,  then,  the  works  of 
the  devil  shall  experience  the  fate  decreed  for  them,  it  follows 
that  all  the  misery  consequent  of  sin  shall  cease.  Error  also  is 
ascribed  to  the  devil,  (for  he  is  called  the  father  of  lies,  (John 
viii.  44.)  and  false  doctrines,  under  the  figure  of  tares,  are  called 
"  the  children  of  the  wicked  one,"  "  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  is 
the  devil,"  (Mat.  xiii.  39.)  both  the  devil  and  his  works  are  not 
infrequently  personified  in  the  scriptures,)  error,  therefore,  must 
also  in  due  time  cease :  the  same  thing  is  plainly  intimated  in  the 
several  predictions  afore-quoted,  that  God  will  remove  the  face 
of  the  covering  cast  upon  all  people,  and  the  veil  spread  over  all 
nations,  that  all  shall  be  brought  to  know  the  Lord,  and  to  confess 
Christ  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father  ;  then  shall  tears  be  wiped 
from  all  faces,  and  the  divine  glory  be  displayed  to  an  universe 
of  intelligences. 

Ninth.     The  ultimate  salvation  of  all  men  is  obviously  infer- 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        121 

able  from  numerous  other  scripture  texts  and  circumstances.  For 
example :  the  anger  of  God  is  alluded  to  as  existing  but  for  a 
moment  i  (Psl.  xxx.  5.  Isaiah  liv.  8.)  but,  in  full  fifty  instances, 
his  mercy  is  said  to  endure  forever,  (1  Chro.  xvi.  34.  2  Chro.  v. 
13.  xvii.  3,  6.  XX.  29.  Psl.  cvi.  1.  cvii.  1.  cxviii.  1,  2,  3.  cxxxvi.l, 
2,  3,  etc.)  but  according  to  the  opponent  system  this  antithesis  is 
false !  for  in  that  case  his  anger  endureth  as  long  as  his  mercy  : 
yea,  more,  for  as  regards  the  subjects  of  endless  misery,  the 
reverse  of  the  antithesis  is  the  fact ;  God's  mercy  toward  them 
endureth  only  during  their  momentary  stay  on  earth,  and  then 
commenceth  the  reign  of  his  wrath,  and  it  conlinueth  forever ! 

Strictly  speaking  there  is,  there  can  be,  no  anger  in  the  deity : 
"  he  is  of  one  mind,  and  who  can  turn  him  ]"  But  in  accommo- 
dation to  our  limited  conceptions,  the  retributive  dispensations  of 
his  providence  are  termed  his  anger,  because  they  display  the 
repugnance  of  his  infinitely  pure  nature  to  all  unholiness  ;  these, 
however,  are  ever  directed  to  the  sinner's  reformation  as  an  ul- 
timate object ;  they  are  therefore  necessarily  temporary,  and,  as 
compared  with  eternity,  but  for  a  moment ;  but  the  mercy  which 
directs  them,  endureth,  according  to  the  most  absolute  sense  of 
the  word,  forever,  while  God  himself  endureth. 

It  is  positively  declared,  "  For  the  Lord  WILL  NOT  cast  off 
forever,  but  though  he  cause  grief,  yet  he  will  have  compassion 
according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies,  for  he  doth  not  afflict 
willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men."  (Lam.  iii.  31,  32.) 
The  same  prophet  also  asks  the  important  and  self-answering 
question,  "  Will  he  reserve  his  anger  forever  ?  Will  he  keep 
it  unto  the  end  ?"  (Jer.  iii.  5.)  And  the  negative  is  boldly  and 
explicitly  settled  by  two  other  prophets.  "  For  I  WILL  NOT 
contend  forever,  NEITHER  WILL  I  be  always  wroth,  for  the 
spirits  should  fail  before  me,  and  the  souls  that  I  have  made." 
(Isaiah  Ivii.  16.)  "The  Lord  is  merciful  and  gracious,  slow  to 
anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy ;  he  WILL  NOT  always  chide, 
NEITHER  WILL  HE  retain  his  anger  forever."  (Psl.  ciii. 
8,  9.)  And  still  another  inquires,  "Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  transgressions 
of  the  remnant  of  his  heritage?  he  RETAINETH  NOT  his 
anger  forever,  because  he  delighteth  in  mercy ;  he  will  turn  again, 
he  will  have  compassion  upon  us  ;  he  will  subdue  our  iniquities ; 

Vol.  I.— L  No.  6. 


122  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

and  thou  wilt  cast  all  their  sins  into  the  depth  of  the  sea."  (Mic, 
vii.  18,  19.)  In  regard  to  David  God  saith,  and  it  is  to  be  pre- 
sumed that  he  deals  with  all  men  upon  the  same  principle,  "  If 
his  children  forsake  my  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments  ;  if^ 
they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my  commandments;  then 
will  I  visit  their  transgressions  with  a  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with 
stripes;  But  my  loving-kindness  WILL  I  NOT  utterly  take 
from  him,  nor  suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail."  (Psl.  Ixxxix.  30, 
21,  32.)  If  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  were  hut  half  as 
explicitly  affirmed  in  the  scriptures  as  it  is  repeatedly  here  de- 
nied, it  could  with  more  show  of  truth  claim  our  credence  under 
the  divine  sanction;  and  it  would  then  seem  the  height  of  pre- 
sumption, to  attempt  the  advocation  of  the  opposite  doctrine  of 
the  final  salvation  of  a  world.  But  what  can  be  brought  forward 
in  its  behalf,  which  will  set  aside  this  repeated  and  positive  evi- 
dence of  its  falsity  1  And  especially  when  to  this  are  added  all 
the  evidences  from  God's  attributes,  relations,  will,  pleasure, 
promises,  purpose,  oath,  his  end  in  creation,  redemption,  provi- 
dence, &c.,  one  would  think  that  to  countervail  all  this,  there 
should  be  direct  testimony,  so  explicit,  and  so  oft  repeated, 
in  various,  yet  always  unequivocal  forms,  that  common  sense 
could  not  well  mistake  their  purport.  And  even  in  that  case  the 
bible,  by  its  contradictory  testimonies  relative  to  the  same  point, 
"would  nullify  its  own  claims  upon  our  respect  and  confidence. 
But  how  stands  the  fact?  You  will  see,  reader, ere  we  are  done, 
that  this  dogma  depends  for  support  on  some  isolated  allegories 
or  other  disjointed  and  hyperbolical  portions  of  the  scripture! 
A  foundation  so  flimsy  would  stand  small  chance  of  availing  \t 
long,  I  ween,  were  it  not  for  the  too  general  ignorance,  duplicity, 
and  mystery-loving  character  of  mankind. 

Tenth.  The  same  is  also  inferable  from  the  nature  of  prayer, 
FAITH,  and  CHARITY.  It  has  before  been  shown  that  we  are  direct- 
ed to  pray  for  all  men,  (1  Tim.  ii.  1.)  and  also  to  pray  \x\  faith, 
because  "  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin;"  (Rom.  xiv.  23.)  to 
pray  in  faith  for  all  men  would  not  be  proper,  nor  would  it  have 
been  enjoined,  if  it  were  the  fact  that  in  regard  to  millions  it 
would  prove  unavailing:  the  very  injunction  implies  that  the 
object  of  these  petitions  shall  be  finally  fulfilled  ;  more  especially 
as  they  are  in  accordance  with  the  divine  mind,  "  who  will  have 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        123 

all  men  to  be  saved,  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth." 
(1  Tim.  ii.  4.)  Christ  has  directed  us  to  pray  that  the  will  of 
God  should  be  done,  (Mat.  vi.  10.)  and  he  himself  has  set  the 
example  of  praying  for  the  whole  world.  (John  xvii.  21.)  It 
is  to  be  presumed  that  he  knew  whether  his  prayer  would  or 
would  not  avail  :  David  often  broke  out  into  supplication  for  the 
whole  human  family,  "  Let  all  the  people  praise  thee,  O  God,  let 
all  the  people  praise  thee  !"  (  Psl.  Ixvi.  3.)  "  O  let  them  give 
thanks  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  is  good,  for  his  mercy  endureth  for- 
ever," (ibid,  xxvii.  5.)  and  he  also  prays,  "  O  let  the  wickedness 
of  the  wicked  come  to  an  end  !"  (ibid.  vii.  9.)  "•  The  Lord 
heareth  the  prayers  of  the  righteous,"  it  is  said,  (Prov.  xv.  29.) 
and  it  is  but  reasonable  to  believe  he  does,  and  that  he  will 
answer  them  too,  when  they  accord  with  his  own  will,  and  the 
example  of  his  son. 

All  good  men  pray  for  the  final  salvation  of  the  world  ;  oh  how 
fervently  do  they  desire  this  great  object !  And  yet,  strange  to 
say,  how  averse  are  many  of  them  to  believe  that  it  will  ever  be 
brought  to  pass  !  They  will  argue  against  it,  preach  against  it, 
•write  against  it,  and  yet  most  fervently  pray  for  it !  And  the 
doctrine  which  sets  forth  that  their  benevolent  supplications  are 
heard,  and  will  in  due  time  be  fully  answered,  they  denounce  as 
a  most  gross  and  dangerous  heresy  ! 

Faith.  The  scriptures  intimately  connect  faith  with  salvation  ; 
but  what  must  faith  be  in  its  nature,  in  order  to  be  saving  in  its 
influence  %  This  is  a  question  of  greater  moment  than  is  gener- 
ally imagined,  for  except  it  give  assurance  to  the  subject  of  his 
own  eventual  happiness  ;  yea,  and  of  the  eventual  happiness  of 
all  in  whom  his  affections  are  interested — it  surely  cannot  saving- 
ly affect  him  :  can  any  system  of  belief  light  up  my  mind  with 
joy  and  confidence  relative  to  the  future  world,  which  fails  to 
assure  me  of  my  own  future  blessedness  1  And  allowing  it  gives 
me  this,  which  fails  to  assure  me  also  of  the  future  blessedness  of 
my  parents,  my  wife  and  children,  my  friends,  and  all  in  whose 
welfare  my  heart  concerns  itself?  Now  it  is  undeniable  that 
neither  of  the  several  systems  of  unending  punishment  can  do 
this.  Supposing,  for  example,  the  doctrine  of  election  true,  can  I 
certainly  know  that  myself,  and  all  these  other  objects  of  my  love, 
are  among  the  happy  number  elected  to  ceaseless  bliss  ]     None, 


124  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

surely,  will  think  of  rendering  an  affirmative  answer  here.  Mach 
less  can  I  be  certified  on  this  head,  if  the  notion  oi  free  agency 
be  true  ;  for  on  that  ground  there  is  no  certainty  to  any  body — not 
only  no  certainty  of  ever  getting  to  heaven,  but  also  no  certainty 
of  remaining  there  in  case  it  is  ever  reached  !  Because  if  some 
once  there  were  exiled,  and  driven  to  hell,  (the  fallen  angels,) 
and  we  are  to  continue  free  agents,  the  same  may  happen  again ! 

If  faith  give  not  present  certitude  of  future  bliss  to  its  pos- 
sessor, I  can  only  say  that  the  scriptures  have  greatly  exaggerated 
its  virtues  :  "  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest,"  say  they,  "  TO 
the  people  of  God ;"  (Heb.  iii.  9.)  and  "  we  which  have  believed, 
DO  enter  into  rest;"  (ibid.  3.)  they  speak  of  a  "  peace  and  joy 
IN  believing ;"  (Rom.  xv.  13.)  and  they  connect  with  faith  a  "joy 
that  is  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  (1  Pet.  i.  8.)  Paul  calls 
faith  "The  substance  of  things  hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen  ;"  (Heb.  xi.  7.)  precisely  the  reverse  of  this  definition 
will  express  the  nature  of  the  belief  of  endless  misery ;  it  is 
the  substance  of  things  not  only  not  hoped  for,  but  by  every  be- 
nevolent mind  most  fervently  deprecated ;  thus  near,  exactly,  and 
no  nearer,  does  this  dreary  faith  approximate  to  an  identity  with 
the  faith  of  the  gospel ! 

"  Faith  works  by  love,  and  purifies  the  heart."  (Gal.  v.  6.) 
Does  the  faith  of  unending  punishment  do  this  ?  On  the  contrary, 
I  will  prove  it  to  be  inconsistent  with  a  due  degree  of  love  to 
mankind.  Take  a  mother  who  believes  this  doctrine ;  she  has 
lost  a  son  who  had  attained  his  majority,  and  who  died  without  a 
preparation  for  heaven.  Does  she  suppose  that  he  has  been 
doomed  to  an  eternity  of  flames  ]  Not  she ;  she  will  tell  you  of 
the  mercy  of  God,  and  of  his  plenitude  of  grace  for  the  salvation 
of  the  vilest  of  offenders ;  and  although  she  is  not  warranted  by 
her  creed  in  cherishing  the  smallest  hope  for  her  son  on  these 
grounds ;  still  she  will  persist  in  discrediting  the  idea  of  his 
final  ruin  !  Why  is  this  ]  It  is  because  of  the  love  she  bears  to 
her  offspring.  Suppose  now  that  she  loved  all  mankind  as  well ; 
what  then  ]  Why  then  she  would  be  equally  loth  to  believe  that 
any  would  be  finally  lost.  Does  not  this  make  it  manifest  that 
a  faith  in  this  dogma  is  incompatible  with  true  philanthropy  ? 
You  will  rarely  find  a  person  of  sane  mind,  who  thinks,  however 
profligate  he  may  be,  that  he  will  be  doomed  to  verify  the  truth  of 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        125 

this  dogma  :  although  his  prejudices  would  be  shocked  at  the  idea 
that  no  part  of  mankind  are  to  be  endlessly  damned  ;  he  is  quite 
sure  there  will  be  a  great  many  :  but  he  is  not  to  be  included  in 
the  number — oh  no,  not  his  precious  self.  He  might  go  so  far  as 
to  acknowledge,  *'  if  I  should  die  in  my  present  state  I  would 
without  doubt  sink  to  hell ;  but  then,"  quoth  he,  "  1  dont  expect 
so  to  die ;  I  hope  divine  grace  will  some  day  interpose  for  my 
salvation."  If  this  man  loved  all  as  he  loves  himself,  he  would 
find  it  exceedingly  easy  to  believe  that  all  mankind  will  be  saved  ; 
but  the  faith  of  endless-hell  torments,  we  see,  does  network  by  love. 
Charity,  which  is  but  another  name  for  love,  and  which  the 
apostle  Paul  tells  us  "  never  faileth,"  (1  Cor.  xiii.  8.)  though 
prophecies  may  fail,  and  tongues  may  cease,  and  knowledge  may 
vanish  away,  and  the  earth  in  the  lapse  of  ages  may  be  resolved 
into  its  primary  elements,  and  the  stars  may  grow  dim  with  age, 
and  worlds,  and  systems  of  worlds,  may  be  dissolved,  and  become 
commingled  in  primeval  confusion  ;  all  this  may  be,  but  love  never 
faileth ,-  for  love  is  God,  and  was  the  first  of  all  things,  and  must 
survive  the  wreck  of  all  things,  in  case  such  wreck  transpire. 
As  God  willeth  not  the  final  ruin  of  any,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
will  have  all  to  be  saved  ;  so  as  we  assimilate  to  the  divine 
nature  are  we  similarly  disposed  toward  the  whole  of  mankind  : 
And  here,  christian  reader,  I  will  appeal  to  your  experience;  let 
rae  take  your  memory  back  to  the  period  when  you  were  first 
sensible  of  the  divine  influences  upon  your  heart ;  you  were 
overwhelmed,  you  were  dissolved  in  tenderness,  you  looked 
around  you  with  new  eyes  upon  all  things,  and  they  seemed 
invested  with  a  charm  which  they  had  never  previously  worn ; 
love  was  apparent  to  your  perceptions  every  where,  and  seemed 
to  have  transmuted  all  things  into  its  own  image  and  essence  ;  there 
was  nothing,  however  mean  or  contemptible,  upon  which  your 
heart  did  not  yearn  to  expatiate  itself  in  kindness  ;  you  could  fully 
sympathise  with  the  desire  of  the  poet, 

"  0  that  the  world  might  taste  and  see 
The  riches  of  his  grace  ; 
The  arms  of  love  which  compass  me. 
Would  all  mankind  embrace." 

Far  were  you  then  from  a  disposition  to  limit  divine  grace  to  a 
moiety  of  the  human  family  ;  on  the  contrary,  you  felt  that  that 
Vol.  I.—l  2 


126  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

grace  which  had  reached  a  case  so  desperate  as  yours,  was  quite 
able  to  plunge,  in  its  saving  influences,  down  to  the  lowest  depths 
of  human  guilt;  for  your  heart  fully  endorsed  the  sentiment 
breathed  forth  by  the  christian  poet  before-quoted,  relative  to  the 
divine  goodness. 

"  Throughout  the  world  its  breadth  is  known, 

Vast  as  infinity  ; 

So  vast  it  never  passed  by  one, 

Or  it  had  passed  by  me." 

Is  it  probable,  reader,  that  your  conceptions  of  almighty  love 
were  at  that  time  exaggerated  1 — that  they  soared  beyond  its 
height — went  down  below  its  depths — or  extended  beyond  its 
circumference  1  No,  no,  this  is  not  probable,  the  greater  proba- 
bility is,  that  your  conceptions  since  have,  by  the  influence  of  a 
partial  creed,  been  narrowed  into  limits  quite  out  of  accordance 
with  your  christian  profession  and  your  former  experience. 

"  Charity,"  saith  the  great  apostle,  "  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity, 
but  rejoiceth  in  the  truth ;"  (1  Cor.  xiii.  7.)  from  which  we 
gather,  that  whatever  love  cannot  approve,  and  rejoice  in,  cannot 
be  true.  Love  can  approve  of  all  things  as  they  are,  because  it 
looks  forward  to  what  they  are  to  be ;  it  can  approve  of  present 
evil,  with  a  view  to  future  and  greater  good  ;  it  can  smile  upon 
a  short  night  of  tears,  which  is  to  issue  in  an  ever-enduring  day  of 
joy,  the  brighter  for  those  tears.  But  can  charity  rejoice  in  the 
endless  ruin  of  intelligent  Beings  1  No  ;  and  we  therefore  infer 
that  the  doctrine  concerning  such  an  event  is  false. 

Eleventh.  We  may  infer  the  ultimate  salvation  of  all  men 
from  the  fact,  that  we  are  taught  by  Jesus  Christ  himself  to  make 
the  conduct  of  God  toward  his  enemies,  the  model  of  our  conduct 
toward  ours.  "  But  I  say  unto  you,  love  your  enemies,  bless 
them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pray  for 
them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute.  That  ye  may  be 
the  children  of  your  father  which  is  in  heaven,"  &c.  (Mat.  v.  44.) 
"What  can  be  conceived  more  flagrantly  opposed  to  this  character  of 
the  deity,  than  that  which  is  ascribed  to  him  by  the  theory  of  eter- 
nal torments  1  To  imitate  God  as  that  doctrine  portrays  him,  we 
must  cherish  toward  our  foes  an  implacable  revenge,  a  revenge 
which  nothing  short  of  their  utter  ruin  will  sufl5ce  to  extinguish  ! 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        127 

Such  is  the  revenge,  such  the  deity  of  that  dark  creed  !     It  is 
equally  easy  to  love  him,  as  to  love  the  grim  vision  of  Milton's 

Molech,  horrid  king : 


Besmear'd  with  blood  of  human  sacrifice, 
And  parents'  tears" 

Does  he  indeed  love  his  enemies  ?  How,  I  pray,  is  that  love 
evinced?  By  continuing  them  in  life?  Yes,  that  they  may 
thereby  sink  the  deeper  in  guilt,  (for  such  he  certainly  knows 
will  be  the  result,)  and  draw  down  upon  themselves  accumulated 
ruin !  Such  is  the  love  of  God  !  Such  his  lenity  toward  the 
objects  of  his  wrath !  He  has  prepared  for  them  a  sea  of  sul- 
phurous fire,  and  although  no  good  to  any  creature  can  arise  from 
it,  it  shall  be  their  hapless  doom. 

"  There  to  converse  with  everlasting  groans, 
Unrespited,  unpitied,  unreprieved, 
Ages  of  hopeless  end." 

I  put  it  to  the  consciences  and  good  sense  of  my  readers, 
whether  a  doctrine  which  thus  represents  the  deity  can  be  true; 
and  whether  the  saviour's  selection  of  the  divine  conduct  as  an 
example  for  ours,  was  not,  in  this  view  of  the  case,  a  most  inap- 
propriate, and  unfortunate  selection. 

Twelfth.  We  may  also  infer  our  doctrine  from  the  precepts 
and  the  acts  of  the  saviour  whilst  he  sojourned  with  men  :  he  was 
the  representative  of  God,  and  the  reflection  of  his  perfections, 
(Col.  1.)  "when  ye  have  seen  me,"  said  he,  "ye  have  seen  the 
father,"  (John  xiv.  9.)  and  what  was  his  treatment  of  sinners  1 
Such,  exactly,  as  entitled  him  to  be  called  their  "/mnc?,"  (Mat. 
xi.  10.  Luke  vii.  34.)  he  had  "  compassion  on  the  ignorant,  and 
them  that  were  out  of  the  way;"  (Heb.  v.  2.)  even  in  death  he 
practiced  upon  the  precept  he  gave  to  man,  by  praying  for  his  en- 
emies; (Luke  xxiii.  34.)  and  he  commissioned  his  disciples 
after  his  resurrection,  to  commence  their  labors  of  gospel  leva 
amongst  his  murderers.  (Luke  xiii.  47.  Acts  iii.  2G.)  When 
Peter  inquired  of  him,  "How  oft  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me, 
and  I  forgive  him — until  seven  times  ?"  his  answer  was,  "  I  say  not 
unto  thee  until  seven  times,  but  until  seventy  times  seven."  (Mat. 
xxiii.  22.)     That  is,  forgive  as  God  forgives,  without  limitation. 

To  the  woman  taken  in  adultery  he  said,  "neither  do  1  con- 
demn thee  ;  go,  and  sin  no  more  :"  (John  vii.  3.)  from  which  we 


128  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

are  not  to  infer,  however,  that  he  did  not  regard  the  act  with  a 
due  degree  of  abhorrence  ;  for  he  cautioned  her  against  a  repeti- 
tion of  it — "  sin  no  more  :"  all  that  we  can  infer,  is,  that  knowing 
the  frailty  of  our  nature,  and  the  temptations  with  which  it  is 
beset,  he  judged  less  harshly  of,  and  made  more  allowance  for 
human  conduct,  than  cynical  self-righteous  bigots  are  wont  to  do. 
♦'This  man,"  thought  Simon  the  pharisee,  when  he  saw  that 
Jesus  admitted  a  sinful,  conscience-smitten  woman,  to  disburthen 
her  heart  in  tears  shed  upon  his  feet ;  "  is  not  so  good  and  great 
a  person  as  he  is  accounted,  or  he  would  not  permit  a  sinner  to 
touch  him."  Simon  had  not  the  least  idea  that  he  himself  was  a 
sinner  :  oh,  no  !  he  would  not  submit  to  the  pollution  of  contact 
with  any  one  bearing  that  character.  Christ  well  divined  what 
was  passing  in  his  mind,  and  he  read  him  a  lesson  of  benev- 
olence so  simple,  and  so  touching  withal ;  that  it  must  command 
for  its  author  the  love  and  admiration  of  mankind  through  all 
future  time.  (Luke  vii.  36.)  When  the  multitudes  followed  him, 
eager  to  hear  his  mild  and  soothing  eloquence,  into  desert  places, 
and  through  long  fasting  became  weak  with  hunger  ;  Christ  com- 
passionated them  because  they  were  far  from  tiieir  villages,  and 
they  might  faint  on  their  way  thither  to  get  food  :  and  he  worked 
a  miracle  for  their  supply  on  the  spot.  (Mat.  xvi.  9.  Mark  viii.  9.) 
Ah  !  he  saw  very,  very  many  amongst  them,  if  the  theory  of  an 
endless  hell  be  true,  who  after  a  few  brief  years  should  implore 
his  pity  from  the  fiery  deeps  of  ruin,  and  implore  it  in  vain  !  How 
tender,  and  how  delicate,  was  the  manner  he  adopted  toward  the 
transgressing  Peter ;  in  order  that  that  rash,  but  warm-hearted 
disciple,  might  be  reassured  of  his  favour!  (John  xxi.  15.)  And 
how  condescending  was  his  conduct  toward  the  skeptical  Thom- 
as !  (ibid.  XX.  27.)  How  enlarged  is  the  benevolence  he  incul- 
cates in  his  sermon  on  the  mount !  and  in  the  parable  of  the 
good  Samaritan!  (Luke  x.  30.)  The  worst  of  mankind,  he 
informs  us,  will  salute  their  brethren — will  love  ihe'n  friends ; 
(the  members  of  a  fraternity  of  thieves  will  do  this  as  it  regards 
each  other;)  but  if  we  would  be  God-like  we  must  love  our 
enemies,  and  be  kind  to  those  that  hate  us :  we  must  not  suffer  our 
fellow  feeling  to  be  narrowed  by  party  or  by  geographical  limits; 
but  must  aim  to  emulate  him  who  is  "good  to  all,"  and  whose 
"  tender  mercy  is  ovfer  all  his  works." 


ADDITIONAL  ARGUMENTS  FROM  THE  SCRIPTURES.        129 

Such  was  Jesus  Christ:  and  those  who  saw  him  saw  the 
Father,  (John  xiv.  9.)  for  he  was  the  incarnated  "image  of  the 
invisible  God;"  (Col.  i.  15.)  the  visible,  and  tangible  mirror 
of  the  divine  perfections.  How  can  we  better  acquaint  ourselves 
with  the  Father's  character,  and  how  a  priori^  better  form  a  con- 
clusion as  to  what  he  will  do  in  regard  to  our  sinful  race,  than  by 
attentively  considering  the  precepts  and  the  acts  of  his  son,  who 
was  his  representative  amongst  men?  "And  we  beheld  his 
glory,"  says  one,  "  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the 
Father, /w//  of  grace  and  truth.''''  (John  i.  14.)  Now  is  not  com- 
mon sense  outraged  when  attempts  are  made  to  harmonise  with 
this  developement  of  his  character,  the  doctrine,  that  God  will 
to  all  eternity  damn  seven  eighths  of  his  frail  and  ignorant  hu- 
man offspring '?  When  darkness  can  be  proven  a  better  medium 
of  vision  than  light ;  when  it  can  be  shown  that  cold  is  attributa- 
ble to  the  presence  of  caloric ;  when  the  great  toe,  in  the  human 
system,  is  shown  to  be  the  nucleus  of  the  arterial  and  venous 
circulation,  instead  of  the  heart ;  when  the  principle  of  gravita- 
tion is  proven  to  incline  heavy  bodies  to  the  clouds :  when  these 
things  can  be  made  to  appear,  it  will  then  be  equally  apparent  that 
from  the  perfections  of  character  exemplified  in  the  teaching  and 
acts  of  the  Saviour,  will  result  a  final  catastrophe  answering  to 
that  set  forth  in  the  dogma  of  endless  misery. 

I  will  add  no  more  considerations  at  present,  although  much 
more  will  be  adduced  in  the  progress  of  this  work.  I  flatter  my- 
self however,  that  more  is  not  necessary  for  the  conviction  of  the 
candid  inquirer:  let  him  but  suppose  these  facts  reversed,  and 
then,  must  he  not  acknowledge  their  weight  in  the  scale  of  the 
opposite  doctrine  to  be  immense  ?  \^  for  example,  it  could  be 
urged  in  behalf  of  endless  misery,  that  God  wills  it ;  that  it 
accords  with  his  purpose^  pleasure,,  promise,  and  oath ;  with  the 
mission,  miracles,  and  death  of  Christ ;  that  it  is  a  legitimate  ob- 
ject of  prayer,  faith,  and  charity  ;  that  all  the  good,  in  heaven 
and  on  earth,  desire  it ;  that  in  order  to  be  like  God  we  must  in 
our  practice  conform  to  the  spirit  of  it :  and  that  Chrisfs  example 
when  on  earth  was  in  strict  accordance  with  its  principles. 
And  if  it  could  be  further  urged  in  its  favour,  that  revelation  une- 
quivocally teaches  that  God's  mercy  is  momentary,  and  his  anger 
eternal  ,•  that  he  will  contend  forever ;  that  in  numerous  instances 


130  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

he  will  utterly  take  away  his  loving-kindness,  and  cease  to  be 
gracious;  also  that  death  will  always  endure;  and  sm,  and  ^Ae 
devil,  and  his  works,  and  error,  and  misery  and  hell:  and,  further- 
more, that  God  created  numerous  intelligences  to  i\ievery  end  that 
they  should  be  ceaselessly  miserable  ;  and  that  any  result  short  of 
this  would  be  a  disappointment  of  his  eternal  plans.  If,  I  say,  all 
this  could  be  urged  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  that  doctrine,  would 
you  not,  reader,  deem  it  the  very  extremity  of  folly  and  pre- 
sumption in  me,  or  any  one  else,  who  should  undertake  to 
prove  that  doctrine  false  ■?  You  most  undoubtedly  would.  Well 
then,  all  that  I  have  repeated,  and  much  more,  can  be  adduced  in 
favour  of  the  universalist  faith  :  and  does  it  not  therefore  follow, 
that  to  undertake  a  refutation  of  that  faith  is  the  very  extremity 
of  folly  and  presumption  ] 


HYMN— ABRAHAMIC  COVENANT. 

The  Abrahamic  covenant  all  people  embraced, 

By  it  all  who  fell  in  Adam  are  in  Jesus  replaced  ; 

1*  or  Jehovah  hath  sworn,  and  he  will  not  recall  his  vow, 

That  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every  creature  shall  bow. 

From  his  kingdom  shall  Christ  remove  all  things  that  offend, 
He  will  finish  transgression  and  bring  sin  to  an  end ; 
No  place  for  the  devil  nor  his  works  will  be  found ; 
Where  sin  once  abounded  grace  much  more  shall  abound. 

Oh  then  shall  the  glorious  restitution  take  place, 

The  reconciliation  of  all  Adam's  lost  race, 

Which  Jehovah  hath  promised  and  announced  unto  man, 

By  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets  since  creation  began. 

To  Zion  the  ransom'd  of  the  Lord  shall  repair, 

The  Jew  and  the  Gentile,  bond  and  free  shall  be  there ; 

All  people  encircled  in  the  Saviour's  embrace. 

And  sighing  and  sorrow  to  their  songs  shall  give  place. 

On  the  mountain  of  Zion  God  a  feast  shall  afford, 
And  all  nations  shall  flock  unto  this  feast  of  the  Lord  : 
The  songs  of  salvation  shall  employ  every  voice, 
Christ  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  rejoice. 

Every  creature  in  heaven,  on  the  earth,  and  beneath, 
Shall  celebrate  the  triumph  over  Ha-des  and  death: 
All  rule,  and  authority,  arid  power  overthrown. 
And,  God  all  in  all,  the  whole  creation  shall  own. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  I.  131 

POPULAR  DEBATE.— No.  I. 


IS   THE  FUTURE   SALVATION  CONDITIONAL? 


ARGUMENT  IN  THE  AFFIRMATIVE. 

1st.  Man  is  a  free  moral  agent ;  as  such  he  is  a  subject  of  law, 
of  exhortation  appealing  to  his  interests  and  his  fears,  and  of  rewards 
and  punishments.  If  his  future  safety  is  independent  of  his  pres- 
ent conduct  I  can  conceive  of  no  use  that  religion  can  be  to  him; 
why  Christ  should  have  died  for  his  redemption ;  or  why  he 
should  be  so  earnestly,  and  repeatedly  urged  to  attend  to  the  im- 
portant business  of  his  salvation  !  Surely  if  he  is  not  to  be  leg^rd' 
ed  zs  3  probationer  for  eicrnity  there  was  no  need  for  all  this; 
religion  is  a  mockery  :  and  the  means  of  grace  utterly  useless,  if 
his  future  felicity  is  secure  without  them. 

2nd.  We  are  solemnly  assured  in  the  Bible,  that  "  the  soul  that 
sinneth  it  shall  die," — that  "he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  dam- 
ned,"— that  "  he  that  soweth  to  the  flesh  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  cor- 
ruption,"— that  "  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  for  the  things  done  in  his  body, 
whether  they  be  good,  or  whether  they  be  evil."  &c.  Universal- 
ists  tell  us  that  these  threatenings,  with  the  accompanying  prom- 
ises relate  wholly  to  the  present  state,  but  for  this  we  have  but 
their  assertion,  and  the  strength  of  language  which  marks  many 
of  these  texts,  proves  that  assertion  groundless.  Is  it  in  the  pres- 
ent world  that  "  they  who  sow  to  the  spirit,  shall  of  the  spirit  reap 
life  everlasting"?  Do  universalists  enjoy  their  everlasting  life 
in  this  world?  Christ  is  said  to  have  become  "  the  author  of  eter- 
nal salvation  to  all  them  that  obey  him."  Does  this  also  happen 
in  the  present  state  ?  Is  the  eternal  salvation  to  be  realised  here  1 
Moreover,  an  apostle  exhorts  to  "  give  all  diligence  to  make  your 
calling  and  election  sure" — "  for  so  an  entrance  shall  be  minis- 
tered unto  you  abundantly  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  Now  that  in  this  passage  the 
reference  is  not  to  Christ's  kingdom  here,  is  certain,  for  Christ's 
kingdom  here  is  not  everlasting.  Here,  then,  is  an  insurmounta- 
ble proof,  that  our  condition  beyond  death  is  dependant  on  our 


132  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

conduct  in  life ;  but  this  is  so  important  a  point  that  it  shall  be 
proven  farther. 

The  momentous  question  was  put  to  Christ — "  Are  there  few 
that  be  saved  ?"  And  what  was  his  answer  ?  v/as  it  such  as  favor- 
ed the  universalian  theory  1  No  indeed.  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at 
the  strait  gate,  for  many  I  say  unto  you  shall  seek  to  enter  in  and 
shall  not  be  able — for  wide  is  the  gate  and  broad  is  the  way  that 
leadelh  to  destruction,  and  many  there  be  that  go  in  thereat;  be- 
cause strait  is  the  gate,  and  narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth  unto 
life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it."  Here  we  have  a  direct  issue 
between  the  Saviour  and  the  universalian  theory,  the  former  af 
firming  that  but  few  will  arrive  at  eternal  bliss,  and  that  few  con- 
ditionalli/,  and  the  latter  affirming  that  all  will  arrive  there,  and 
that  unconditionally. 

But  a  still  plainer  case  occurs ;  when  the  lawyer  and  the  rich 
young  man,  inquired  each  of  Christ  what  good  thing  he  should  do 
to  inherit  eternal  life  :  instead  of  receiving  an  answer  such  as 
universalism  would  render,  viz  ;  Do  nothing — you  will  be  saved 
at  all  events ;  they  were  both  informed  that  to  mere  legal  obe- 
dience they  must  add  the  charity  of  the  gospel ;  to  the  rich  young 
man  was  said,  "  sell  what  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and 
thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven."  Here  observe  by  the  way, 
that  heaven  is  put  by  the  Saviour  in  apposition  with  eternal  life  ; 
which  implies  that  they  are  synonimous.  Treasure  in  heaven, 
then,  it  seems,  may  be  secured  by  acts  of  charity  upon  earth  ' 
I  defy  all  the  sophistry  of  universalism  to  fairly  meet  the  argu- 
ment in  this  case,  against  their  unconditional  salvation  !  It  can- 
not be  done. 

Finally,  Let  me  caution  you,  my  friends,  against  the  vitiating 
and  soul-destroying  dogma  of  universal  salvation  ;  vitiating  and 
soul-destroying  it  must  necessarily  be,  since  it  takes  away  from 
virtue  all  its  encouragements,  and  from  vice  all  its  restraints  ; 
which  encouragements  and  restraints  are  eminently  yielded  by 
the  hope  of  future  reward,  and  the  fear  of  future  punishment.  This 
is  the  very  theory  referred  to  by  the  prophet,  which  "  makes  the 
hearts  of  the  righteous  sad,"  and  "  strengthens  the  hands  of  the 
wicked  by  promising  them  life."  For  must  it  not  dishearten  the 
righteous  to  be  told,  that  in  the  future  world  God  will  make  no 
distinction  between  them  and  the  vilest  of  sinners  ?     Again  then 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  I.  133 

I  exhort  you,  my  friends,  to  shun  this  doctrine,  and  pray  God  to 
guard  you  against  a  belief  in  it. 

ARGUMENT  IN  THE  NEGATIVE. 

1st.  Whether  man  is  a  free  agent,  and  if  so,  to  what  extent,  are 
questions  which  I  will  not  here  attempt  to  resolve  ;  these  subtle- 
ties have  in  all  ages  engaged  the  highest  orders  of  intellect,  and, 
if  Milton's  authority  in  these  matters  be  considered  as  valid,  they 
have  engaged  even  the  reasoning  powers  of  fallen  angels  in  their 
dreary  pandemonium. 

"  Others  apart  sat  on  a  hill  retir'd, 
In  thoughts  more  elevate,  and  reason'd  high 
Of  providence,  foreknowledge,  will,  and  fate ; 
Fix'd  fate,  free  will,  foreknowledge  absolute  ; 
And  found  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

The  mist  of  uncertainty,  nevertheless,  still  clings  around  these 
questions  as  much  as  ever.  I  choose  to  assume  that  man  is,  in 
some  degree,  master  of  his  volitions,  and  the  actions  thence  ensu- 
ing ;  that  in  many  cases  he  could  both  will,  and  do,  otherwise  than 
as  he  does  ;  but  that  he  is  not  free,  to  the  extent  supposed  by  my 
opponent,  is  susceptible  of  both  philosophical  and  scriptural  proof; 
he  surely  is  not  at  liberty  to  ruin  himself  past  the  remedial  reach 
of  his  creator's  grace :  to  suppose  the  contrary,  is  an  almost  blas- 
phemous arraignment  of  that  creator's  wisdom  and  benevolence! 
But  if  we  even  concede  to  man  all  the  freedom  contended  for,  it 
will  not  thence  follow  that  he  is  a  probationer  (i.  e.  on  trial)  fo? 
eternity  ;  that  he  is  nnt,  is  evident  from  several  circumstances. 

First,  we  cannot  control  the  events  even  of  the  future  hour ;  I 
may  propose  in  an  hour  hence,  to  start  on  a  journey ;  but  when  the 
moment  arrives,  I  may  be  prevented  by  illness,  or  the  weather, 
or  the  state  of  the  roads  or  streams,  or  a  failure  of  the  means  of 
conveyance.  In  short,  a  score  of  things  may  interpose  betwixt 
my  purpose  and  its  execution;  and  if  such  is  the  case  with  regard 
to  the  future  hour,  is  it  likely  that  God  has  entrusted  to  me  a 
control  over  my  eternal  destinies  1  Secondly,  Why  is  the  term  of 
human  life  of  so  unequal  duration  with  regard  to  different  individ- 
uals, if  this  life  is  a  state  of  trial  ?  Some  pass  the  ordeal  in  one 
short  hour,  and  attain  the  goal  without  the  risks  and  hardships 
of  the  race ;  whilst  to  others  are  allotted  the  toils  and  trials  of 

Vol.  I.—M 


134  PRO  AND  CON  OF  TNIVERSALISM. 

three  fourths  of  a  century  !  Some,  moreover,  if  this  theory  be 
true,  pass  to  heaven  by  a  path  of  flowers ;  their  education, 
habits,  temperaments,  worldly  interest,  family  and  social  consid- 
erations ;  all  incline  them  to  the  choice  of  a  religious  life  :  whilst 
with  others,  the  very  reverse  is  the  case ;  they  are  religious,  if  at 
all,  at  a  sacrifice  of  nearly  every  earthly  interest !  If  eternal 
bliss  is  to  be  attained  at  the  price  of  a  religious  life,  why  is  not 
that  price  equally  within  the  reach  of  all  1  And  Thirdly,  human 
life  at  the  longest  is  too  short,  its  lights  are  too  dim  ;  its  wants, 
trials,  temptations,  cares,  too  numerous;  and  its  momentous 
ends  too  obscurely  revealed,  if  these  ends  are,  the  avoidance  of 
an  eternity  of  woe,  and  the  ensurance  of  an  eternity  of  bliss. 
No,  no,  it  cannot  be  that  we  here  are  to  form  characters  which 
shall  last  forever :  for  those  who  die  in  infancy  form  no  characters 
at  all !  And  shall  they  so  remain  forever  ]  "  But  they  are  inno- 
cent," it  will  be  said.  True,  but  innocence  is  not  virtue,  when 
we  have  it  not  in  our  power  to  be  otherwise.  If  innocence  is  a  pass- 
port to  eternal  joys,  we  are  all  born  into  the  world  with  the  pass- 
port in  our  hands,  and  millions  attain  the  prize  by  the  mere 
accident  of  dying  before  an  opportunity  is  oflfered  of  forfeiting  the 
title  ! 

But  my  opponent  opines,  that  if  man  is  not  a  probationer  for 
eternity,  there  was  no  need  of  the  saviour's  advent  and  death, 
and  that  preaching,  and  the  whole  business  of  religion  is  useless  ! 
Really,  I  can  see  no  force  in  this  argument ;  man  is  a  rational 
Being;  he  owes  duties  to  his  God,  and  to  his  fellows;  it  is  the 
office  of  religion  to  acquaint  him  with  these,  and  to  prompt  him 
to  a  discharge  of  them — he  is  subject  to  numerous  trials  and  afflic- 
tions ;  under  which  it  is  the  business  of  religion  to  sustain  him — 
he  is  destined  to  a  higher  station  in  Being  than  that  which  he  at 
present  occupies :  to  this  religion  with  friendly  finger  points  his 
hopes.  Jesus  Christ  came  to  expound  to  man  the  nature  and 
claims  of  this  religion  :  and  by  his  ministry,  miracles,  life,  death, 
and  ascension,  to  exemplify  and  establish  it.  No  necessity  foi 
religion,  indeed  !  It  might  as  well  he  said  that  we  shall  not  want 
religion  in  a  future  life,  except  it  be  to  prepare  us  for  another  still 
beyond  it !  Truth  is,  if  even  there  were  no  future  life,  religion 
would  still  be  needful  to  guide  us  peacefully  and  happily  through 
the  present,  and  wherever  there  is  rational  existence,  religion  is 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  I.  135 

indispensable  to  its  happiness.  I  must  decidedly  protest  against 
that  narrow  theory,  which  supposes  religion  only  necessary  as  a 
sort  of  certificate  of  admission  to  the  world  of  bliss  !  It  is  clear 
that  such  is  the  view  of  it  which  has  practically  obtained  amongst 
the  major  part  of  Christendom.* 

2nd.  Let  us  now  glance  at  the  texts,  which  my  friend  thinks 
sustain  his  views  of  a  future  conditional  salvation  ;  he  says  truly 
that  universalists  are  in  the  habit  of  referring  them  exclusively  to 
the  present  slate.  "The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die."  All  ac- 
quainted with  the  language  of  the  bible  know,  that  soul  is  but 
another  word  for  person  or  individual ;  "  Eight  souls  were  saved 
from  drowning,"  that  is  eight  individuals  were  so  saved.  Now 
how  many  souls  have  sinned?  "All  have  sinned  ;"  (Rom.  iii. 
23.)  therefore,  in  the  sense  intended,  all  have  died.  To  say  that 
this  is  an  endless  death,  is  not  only  to  assume  beyond  what  is 
revealed,  but  also  to  incur  the  absurd  consequence  that  all  man- 
kind shall  endlessly  die! 

"  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned."  The  Greek  word 
here  rendered  damned  is  in  other  passages  rendered  condemned^ 
and  judged ;  and  might  with  equal  propriety  have  been  so  trans- 
lated in  this  place.  We  have  no  warrant  for  saying  that  the 
damnation  is  to  ensue  beyond  the  grave.  "  He  that  believeth  not 
IS  condemned  already."  (John  iii.  18.)  My  opponent,  if  he  is  not 
now,  has  been  an  unbeliever :  while  such  he  was  damned,  or  he  was 
not ;  if  not,  the  text  in  his  case  proved  false;  if  he  was  damned, 
it  must  have  been  in  this  state  of  being,  and  thus  his  view  of  the 
text  is  proven  incorrect. 

"  He  that  soweth  to  the  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap  corrup- 
tion." Where  ?  Not  surely  in  a  future  world,  for  there,  neither 
flesh  nor  corruption  exists :  we  have  Paul  for  witness,  that  in  the 
resurrection  "  this  corruption  shall  put  on  incorruption :"  and 
again,  "  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall  be  raised 
incorruptible."  (1  Cor.  xv.)     But  my  friend  thinks  the  language 

*  1  hp  quaint,  and  calvinistically  orthodox  John  Bunyan,  shall  hear  me  witness  to 
the  truth  of  this  remark.  "  When  he  was  come  up  to  the  gate  he  looked  up  to  the 
writing  that  was  above,  and  then  began  to  knock,  suppnsing  that  entrance  should 
have  been  quickly  ailministered  to  him  ;  but  he  was  asked  by  the  men,  that  looked 
over  the  top  of  the  jjate, '  Whence  come  you  1  and  what  would  you  have  V  he  ao- 
gwered,  '  I  have  eat  and  drank  in  the  presence  of  the  king.'  Then  they  asked  him 
for  his  certificate  that  they  might  go  in  and  show  it  to  the  king.  So  he  fumbled  in 
his  bos  im  f  .r  one  an  1  found  none,  &c."  I  need  hardly  add,  that  he  waa  denied  admis- 
sion,—See  Pilgrim's  Progress,  part  first. 


136  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

of  the  latter  clause  of  this  text  too  strong,  to  apply  to  things  of 
time :  "  he  that  soweth  to  the  spirit,  shall  of  the  spirit  reap  life 
everlasting."      '  Do  Universalists,'  he   somewhat   wittily  asks, 

*  enjoy  their  everlasting  life  in  this  world  V  I  will  treat  him  to  a 
bible  answer,  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  son  HATH  everlasting 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation,  but  IS  PASSED 
from  death  unto  life."  (John  iii.  36.)  You  see  then,  (if  the 
scriptures  are  to  be  the  umpire  between  us,)  that  Universalists, 
as  well  as  other  honest  folk  who  believe  in  Christ,  may  enjoy 

•  everlasting  life  in  this  world.'  It  seems  but  reasonable,  moreover, 
ihat  the  harvest  should  be  reaped  where  the  seed  is  sown ;  he 
would  be  a  sagacious  fellow  who  should  think  of  going  to  the 
moon  to  gather  a  crop  of  turnips  which  he  had  planted  on  this 
earth  !  Equally  sagacious  is  he  who  talks  of  going  to  a  world 
of  spirits  to  reap  corruption  of  thejtesh, 

"For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ, 
that  every  one  may  receive  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  his 
body,  whether  they  be  good,  or  whether  they  be  bad."  Begging 
my  opponent's  pardon  I  must  tell  him,  that,  in  the  sense  of  this 
text  for  which  he  contends,  he  does  not  believe  it  himself!  Does 
he,  for  instance,  believe  that  he  will  suffer  in  a  future  world  for 
all  his  transgressions  in  this  ]  Not  he  ;  notwithstanding  that  he 
■will  acknowledge  to  have  sinned  often,  and  greatly,  yet  he  thinks 
that  his  post  mortem  state  will  be  one  of  unmingled  happiness ! 
He  does  not  believe  that  Moses,  in  the  future  state,  will  be  pun- 
ished for  his  murder  of  the  Egyptian,  whose  body  he  buried  in 
the  sand :  nor  that  Samson  will  be  held  to  a  reckoning  for  his 
scandalous  connexion  with  Delilah  ;  nor  Peter,  for  the  denial 
of  his  Lord ;  nor  Thomas,  for  his  obstinerte  refusal  to  credit 
Christ's  resurrection  without  sensible  demonstration.  And  yet 
he  puts  upon  the  text  before  us  such  a  construction  as  requires 
him  to  believe  all  this !  Let  us  now  look  for  the  true  sense  of 
this  passage:  leaving  out  the  words  added  by  the  translators  it 
reads  as  follows,  "For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  RECEIVE  THI?  THINGS 
IN  BODY,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  good  or 
bad."  Where  is  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  1  Are  we  any 
where  told  it  is  in  eternity]  No;  on  the  contrary,  Christ  him- 
self says,  "  For  judgment  I  am  come  into  this  world ;"  (John  ix* 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO,  I.  137 

39.)  and  as  to  the  time  of  this  judgment  he  says,  '■^  Now  is  the 
judgment  of  this  world  ;"  (John  xii.  31.)  and,  indeed,  it  was  long 
before  predicted  of  him  that  he  should  "execute  judgment  and 
justice  in  the  earth  ,•"  (Jer.  xxiii.  5.)  and  another  prophet  saith, 
*'  he  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  judgment 
in  the  earth:  and  the  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law."  (Isaiah  xlii.  4.) 
"The  judgment  seat  of  Christ"  is  a  figure,  implying  that  by  the 
principles  of  his  gospel  human  actions  are  tested  in  this  latter- 
day  dispensation  ;  Jesus  himself  explicitly  sanctions  this  defini- 
tion. "  He  that  rejecteth  me,  and  receiveth  not  my  words,  hath 
one  that  judgeth  him  :  the  word  that  I  have  spoken,  the  same  shall 
judge  him  in  the  last  day."  (John  xii.  48.)  Let  these  remarks 
suffice  for  the  present,  they  sufficiently  show  that  an  application 
of  the  text  in  dispute  to  a  future  state,  is  unauthorized  and 
gratuitous. 

Pass  we  now  to  what  my  opponent  deemed  his  most  invinci- 
ble proofs,  perhaps  we  shall  find  them  not  absolutely  insuperable 
after  all.  A  young  lawyer,  it  seems,  and  a  certain  rich  young 
man,  inquired  of  Christ  what  they  should  do  to  inherit  eternal 
life;  and  because  they  were  directed  to  superadd  christian  chari- 
ty to  legal  obedience  in  order  to  the  attainment  of  this  object,  my 
friend  thinks  it  quite  clear  that  future  endless  bliss  is  condition- 
ally bestowed.  Were  I  a  logician  I  would  whisper  in  his  ear, 
"  my  friend,  first  prove^  what  you  here  assume^  viz.  that  the  scrip- 
ture sense  of  '  eternal  life'  is  synonymous  with  '  future  endless 
bliss.'  "  But  this  he  thinks  he  has  already  done,  by  showing  an 
instance  in  which  this  phrase  is  put  in  apposition  with  the  word 
heaven.  It  behooves  him,  however,  to  show  also  that  this  last 
term  always,  or  even  generally,  is  used  to  signify  the  world  of 
bliss.  That  it  is  not,  I  can  establish  past  dispute ;  yea  more, 
I  can  establish  that  it  does  not  in  this  very  instance.  For 
it  is  immediately  afterward  confounded  with  the  "  kingdom  of 
heaven  ;"  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  that  a  rich  man  shall  hardly 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Now  I  know  of  no  one 
instance  in  which  this  phrase  signifies  the  future  world  of  bliss ; 
its  invariable  reference  is  to  the  church,  or  Xhe  gospel  dis'pe7i»ation : 
the  same  that  is  likened  to  "  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  ;"  to  "  leaven 
which  a  woman  hid  in  two  measures  of  meal ;"  to  "  ten  virgins ;" 
and  numerous  other  things.    This  kingdom  is  a  purely  spiritual 

Vol.  I.— m  2 


138  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

institution  ;  it  "  cometh  not,"  saith  the  saviour,  "  with  observa- 
tion, the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  within  you :"  and  Paul  says  it 
consists  of  "  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  holy 
spirit."  (Rom.  xiv.  15.)  It  was  truly  difficult  in  Christ's  day  for 
a  rich  man  to  become  a  subject  of  this  kingdom  ;  opposed  as 
were  its  unpretending  and  self-denying  principles,  to  the  pomp, 
and  glitter,  and  ostentation  of  the  world  ;  and  embracing  only,  as 
■was  then  the  case,  a  few  unlearned,  untitled,  and  obscure  fisher- 
men, as  its  denizens.  Even  many  years  subsequent  to  Christ's 
time,  an  apostle  had  occasion  to  say :  "Not  many  wise  men  after 
the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble  are  called."  (1  Cor. 
i.  26.)*  How  hardly,  then,  would  a  rich  man  resist  the  blan- 
dishments of  the  proud  world,  and  become  a  follower  of  the 
humble  Nazarene  !  "  It  is  easier,"  said  Christ,  "  for  a  camel  to 
go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God."  (Mat.  xix.  24.)  This  led  the  disciples  in 
apparent  surprise  to  inquire,  "  Who  then  can  be  saved  1"  The 
answer  given  is  strangely  at  variance  with  the  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion by  human  agency :  "  With  men  this  is  impossible,  but  with 
God  all  things  are  possible."  What  is  this  but  virtually  saying 
that  our  salvation  is  not  by  any  means  of  ourselves  1  that  it  is 
something  over  which  we  have  no  control  1 — and  which,  therefore, 
cannot,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  conditional ;  but  must  come 
solely  from  God,  who  alone  can  secure  it  to  us  1  And  the  same 
thing  is  elsewhere  repeatedly  affirmed.  "  By  grace  are  ye  saved 
through  faith ;  and  that  not  of  yourselves :  it  is  the  gift  of  God  : 
not  of  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast."  (Ephe.  ii.  8.)  Which 
indeed  is  avowedly  the  doctrine  of  all  protestant  Christendom, 
and  has  been  maintained  also  by  some  eminent  lights  in  the  Ro- 
mish church,  more  especially  by  St.  Augustine  :  and  yet,  with 
singular  inconsistency,  they  mostly  deny  in  fact,  what  they  so 
clearly  avow  in  terms ! 

The  disciples  next  inquire  (for  I  wish  here  to  meet  all  the  ap- 
parent difficulties  of  this  passage)  what  they  should  receive, 
who  had  forsaken  all  and  followed  him  :  he  answers  them,  "  When 
the  son  of  man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory,  ye  also 

*  The  Countess  of  Huntingdon  (a  rigid  calvinist)  used  to  say,  that  her  hope  of  sal- 
vation would  be  cut  off  by  this  text  but  for  the  presence  of  one  letter !  But  for  that 
Messed  letter  m  it  would  read,  Not  any  noble  are  called. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  I.  139^ 

shall  sit  on  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 
And  every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or  sisters, 
or  faiher,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  land,  for  my  name 
sake,  shall  receive  a  hundred-fold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting 
life."  I  know  well  the  strength  of  educational  prejudices  ;  and  I 
also  know  that  these  prejudices  incline  us  to  apply  this  language 
to  a  world  beyond  the  grave  ;  but  let  us  scrutinize  it  carefully  : 
Are  the  apostles  to  sit  on  thrones,  and  judge  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel,  in  a  future  world  ?  Is  it  in  a  future  world  that  the  Son  of 
man  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of  his  glory  1  On  the  contrary,  we 
have  his  own  repeated  assurance  that  this  took  place  at  the  con- 
clusion of  the  Jewish,  and  opening  of  the  gospel  aion  or  age: 
expressly,  and  repeatedly,  is  it  said  by  the  saviour,  when  speak- 
ing of  this  very  event,  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  there  be  some 
standing  here  which  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  son 
of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom."  (Mat.  xxi.  28.  Mark  viii.  38.  xiii. 
26.  Luke.  ix.  27.)  What  was  the  precise  idea  meant  to  be  conveyed 
by  the  expression,  "  ye  shall  sit  on  thrones,  judging  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel,"  I  pretend  not  to  decide;  certainly,  however,  it 
is  not  to  be  understood  literally  ;  and  that  the  disciples  themselves 
understood  it  to  relate  to  things  of  time  is  manifest :  on  the  very 
night  before  his  crucifixion  they  were  contending  as  to  which  of 
them  should  occupy  the  chief  places  in  his  kingdom  ;  and  when 
at  length  the  reign  of  Christ  commenced,  we  ind  them  constantly, 
in  their  preaching  and  writing,  alluding  to  this  divine  dispensation 
under  the  title  of  "  the  kingdom,"  (Acts  viii.  12.  xx.  25.  xxviii. 
39.)  and  as  having  a  present  existence,  "  who  hath  delivered  us 
from  the  power  of  darkness,  and  HATH  TRANSLATED  US 
into  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  son."  (Col.  i.  13.  1  Thes.  ii.  12.) 
This  is  "  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  saviour  Jesus 
Christ,"  on  which  my  opponent  dwelt  so  emphatically,  and  which 
he  sagely  supposes  cannot  exist  in  time  because  of  its  being 
termed  everlasting  !  Pity  for  him  that  he  should  have  read  his 
bible  to  so  little  purpose  !  For  as  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  if  Paul 
may  be  credited,  it  cannot  exist  in  eternity  :  he  informs  us  that  at 
the  close  of  terrestrial  things,  or  at  the  era  of  the  general  resurrec- 
tion, Christ  "  shall  have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even 
the  Father :  when  he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  author- 
ity, and  power :  for  he  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  un- 


140  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

der  his  feet.  The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death. 
And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  him,  then  shall  THE 
SON  HIMSELF  ALSO  be  subject  unto  him  that  put  all  things 
under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all."  (1  Cor.  xv.  24 — ^28.)  My 
opponent's  supposition  then,  you  perceive,  that  the  everlasting 
kingdom  of  Christ  is  in  eternity,  is  quite  wide  of  the  fact. 

I  have  already  shown  that  everlasting  life  is  enjoyed  in  this  state 
of  existence;  let  me  put  this  interesting  point  beyond  all  cavil: 
Christ  himself  says,  "  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  on 
him  that  sent  me,  HATH  EVERLASTING  LIFE  ;"  (John 
V.  24.)  he  repeats  the  same,  (John  vi.  47.)  he  als«  defines  this 
life  ;  "  This  IS  life  eternal,  that  men  may  know  thee  the  only 
true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent."  (John  xvii.  2.) 
So  soon  then  as  this  knowledge  is  possessed  is  the  eternal  life  con- 
sequent thereof  enjoyed.  The  apostle  Paul,  writing  to  the  Romans, 
says,  "Being  made  free  from  sin,  and  become  servants  of  God, 
Ye  have  your  fruits  unto  holiness,  and  the  end  (or  consequence) 
everlasting  life."  (Rom.  vi.  22.)  By  supplying  in  the  closing 
clause  of  this  text  what  grammarians  call  the  ellipsis,  or  the 
omitted  words,  it  would  read  "  and  ye  have  ihe  end  (or  conse- 
quence) which  is  everlasting  fife."  John  says,  "  No  murderer 
hath  eternal  life  abiding  in  him."  (1  John  iii.  15.)  These  instan- 
ces will  suffice  to  settle  the  fact  beyond  controversy,  that  the 
phrases,  "  eternal  life,"  and  "  everlasting  life,"  are  often  used  in 
reference  to  present  gospel  enjoyment.  I,.however,  do  not  thence 
infer  that  they  never  point  to  the  immortal  existence  of  the  future 
state :  still  I  cannot  positively  say  that  they  ever  have  such 
reference;  but  from  the  nature  of  this  life,  we  cannot  doubt  that 
it  is  the  same  that  is  enjoyed  by  all  pure  intelligences  in  every 
department  of  Being. 

But  few  words  are  necessary,  methinks,  in  disposing  of  my 
friend's  now  only  remaining  scriptural  argument;  I  allude  to  the 
passage  concerning  the  narrow,  and  the  broad  roads:  the  one 
leading  to  life,  the  other  to  destruction ;  the  one  but  sparsely,  the 
other  very  populously  occupied.  And  does  my  friend  seriously 
deem  that  these  represent  the  highways  to  bliss  and  woe  unend- 
ing? Is  it  the  fact  that  the  path  to  final  happiness  is  so  narrow, 
and  difficult  of  access,  that  but  few  are  so  fortunate  as  to  find  it; 
while  on  the  other  hand,  the  numerous  travellers  to  endless  ruin 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  I.  141 

are  accommodated  with  a  broad,  M'Adamized  road  1  How 
strangely  in  connection  with  this  circumstance  sounds  the  decla- 
ration, "  The  Lord  hath  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked, 
but  rather  that  all  should  turn  unto  him  and  live  !"  If  I  could 
adopt  my  opponent's  view  of  this  subject,  I  would  abandon  all  pre- 
tensions to  a  belief  in  the  infinite  goodness  of  God,  or  in  his  alleged 
disposition  to  save  the  human  family ;  and  I  should  be  at  an  utter 
loss  how  to  discriminate  between  an  all-benevolent  deity,  and 
an  all-malignant  devil !  The  meaning  of  the  passage  is  briefly 
as  follows :  Christ  confined  his  personal  ministry  to  the  Jews, 
but  such  was  the  bigotry,  and  so  many  and  unyielding  the  preju- 
dices of  that  people,  that  but  few,  and  they  with  great  difficulty, 
could  be  persuaded  to  become  the  subjects  of  his  kingdom; 
much  the  major  part  persisted  in  rejecting  him  ;  they  would  not 
come  unto  him  that  they  might  have  life  :  and,  as  a  consequence, 
they  were  involved  in  the  destruction  which^,  ensued  when  their 
city  and  temple  were  desolated  by  the  Roman  army  :  the  few 
among  the  Jews  who  did  by  faith  in  the  saviour  enter  into  life 
are  designated  by  Paul,  "  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of 
grace."  (Rom.  xi.  8.)  Christ  saith  in  the  text,  "many,  I  say 
unto  you,  shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be  able  :"  and  ia 
agreement  with  this,  the  afore-mentioned  apostle  says,  "  What 
then  1  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which  he  seeJceth  after  ,•  but  the 
election  hath  obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were  blinded."  (ibid.  7.) 
Thus  endeth  ihe  examination  of  the  texts  relied  on  in  the  affirma- 
tive of  this  argument :  let  us  now  glance  at  some  additional  con- 
siderations on  the  negative  side. 

1st. — Supposing  a  future  salvation  conditional,  what  are  the 
conditions'?  Is  faith  one  7  If  so,  forty-nine  fiftieths  of  the  past 
generations  of  man  are  already  damned  to  all  eternity,  for  they  did 
not,  in  this  life,  and  could  not,  believe  in  the  saviour  !  Moreover, 
it  is  certain  that  the  disciples  of  Christ  had  no  will  in  the  matter 
of  their  belief;  it  was  forced  upon  them  by  sensible  evidence  : 
for  years  they  remained  ignorant  of  the  true  character  of  their 
master,  notwithstanding  that  they  had  the  advantage  of  his  teach- 
ing and  miracles,  and  when  at  length  they  became  convinced  on 
this  head,  that  conviction  was  forced  upon  them  by  evidence 
which  they  could  not  resist.  Thomas,  in  particular,  declared, 
"  Except  I  shall  see  in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put 


142  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

my  finger  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  into  his 
side,  1  will  not  believe.''^  (John  xx.  26.)  There  can  surely  be  no 
merit  in  an  act  in  which  we  are  passive  ,•  equally  so  as  in  the  act 
of  respiration  :  and  that  such  is  the  case  in  the  business  of  belief 
in  general,  that  it  is  not  a  matter  of  volition,  is  as  susceptible  of 
demonstration  as  is  any  moral  axiom  whatever. 

2nd. — Let  us  suppose  perfect  holiness  one  of  the  conditions  j 
"  without  which  no  man  can  see  the  Lord  :"  (Heb.  xii.  14.) 
where  now  shall  we  find  one  who  comes  up  to  this  mark  1  Paul 
acknowledges  that  he  had  not,  (Phil.  iii.  15.)  and  Solomon  says 
*'  There  is  not  a  just  man  on  the  earth  that  doeth  good  and  sinneth 
not."  (Eccle.  vii.  20.)  How  small  then  is  the  chance  of  salvation 
beyond  death  to  any,  if  it  depend  on  the  attainment  of  true  holi- 
ness here  !  My  opponent  himself  will  confess,  first,  that  with  the 
taint  of  sin  upon  his  soul  he  cannot  enjoy  the  felicity  of  heaven, 
and  second,  that  he  will  never  in  this  world  be  free  from  that 
taint.  What  remains  then  ?  Ergo.  Except  changed  after 
death  he  must  be  endlessly  damned  !  I  would  not  willingly  give 
head-room  to  a  doctrine  which  closed  all  chance  of  future  bliss 
even  against  myself. 

3rd. — If  neither  faith  nor  holiness,  separately,  is  sufficient  as  a 
term  of  admission  to  heaven,  but  the  union  of  both  is  required,  it 
then  follows,  that  with  the  highest  degree  of  perfection  attainable 
by  man,  an  individual  may  yet  be  endlessly  lost,  if  he  have  the 
misfortune  to  be  ignorant  of  gospel  truth  !  And  then  too,  what 
becomes  of  another  item  in  the  same  creed,  viz.  that,  in  a  future 
world,  every  man  will  be  rewarded  according  to  his  works  1 

Thus  on  every  hand  we  meet  insuperable  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  a  future  conditional  salvation,  whilst  on  the  other  side  I 
know  of  none  that  may  not  be  easily  obviated  :  many  are  startled, 
it  is  true,  at  the  idea,  that  even  the  deepest  guilt  into  which  a  man 
may  plunge  himself,  will  not  utterly  sink  him  beneath  the  reach 
of  divine  grace,  and  shut  the  gates  of  future  bliss  against  his  soul : 
but  let  such  reflect  that  even  according  to  their  own  belief,  the 
worst  of  sinners  experience  a  free  pardon  upon  repentance  in  this 
life,  and  that  here  or  hereafter  God's  mercy  is  the  same — his  love 
to  his  creatures  the  same — the  power  of  his  grace,  and  the  benev- 
olent objects  of  his  government  the  same ;  or  all  that  we  are  told 
of  the  immutability  of  his  nature  must  go  for  nothing.    That  the 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  I.  143 

mere  depth  of  human  guilt  will  prove  no  barrier  against  the  effi- 
cacious operations  of  divine  grace,  is  obvious  from  his  promises, 
"  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  vi^hite  as  snow ; 
and  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool." 
(Isaiah  i.  18.)  It  is  a  most  pitiful  puerility  to  object  that  promises 
of  this  nature  only  indicate  the  divine  dispositions  toward  man  in 
iime,  for  that  implies  that  in  eternity  these  dispositions  will  have 
changed  ;  and  that  the  reformation  of  sinful  intelligences  will  have 
ceased  to  be  an  object  with  God  !  which  are  most  gross  ab- 
surdities. 

My  opponent  alleges  that  ours  is  the  doctrine  alluded  to  by 
Ezekiel,  which  "  strengtheneth  the  hands  of  the  wicked  by 
promising  him  life  ;"  and  thereby  "  makes  the  hearts  of  the 
righteous  sad."  If  the  righteous  are  made  sad  by  being  told  that 
all  sin,  and  misery,  and  death,  and  disorder,  shall  eventually  come 
to  a  period — that  the  infinite  purity  and  felicity  will  be  transfused 
into  all  conscient  existence — that  God's  promises  will  be  verified, 
his  will  accomplished — the  ends  of  Christ's  death  consummated, 
and  their  own  prayers  answered  ;  if  this,  I  say,  is  saddening  to 
righteous  hearts,  I  can  only  say  it  is  pity  for  them,  and  that  I 
most  fervently  pray  to  be  delivered  from  a  heart  of  the  kind ! 
But  is  it  true  that  we  strengthen  the  hands  of  the  wicked  1  Do 
we  promise  him  life  in  his  wickedness  1  Nothing  can  be  farther 
from  truth  than  an  affirmative  answer  to  these  questions.  We 
insist  that  death — certain — present  death— death  constituted  of 
remorse,  misery,  degradation,  and  every  kind  of  mental  (and 
often  bodily)  suffering,  shall  be  the  harvest  of  the  sinner  in  pro- 
portion to  what  he  sows.  It  were  an  easy  thing  to  retort  the 
charge  upon  the  doctrine  of  my  opponent,  and  to  show  that  it 
promises  absolute  impunity  to  crime ;  however  deep,  and  long- 
continued,  provided  that  it  be  but  repented  of  this  side  the  grave  ! 
But  as  I  have  been  already  diffuse  in  my  reply,  I  will  not  dwell 
upon  this  manifest  advantage  in  favour  of  my  theory. 

I  could  say  much  relative  to  the  restraining  effects  of  his  doctrine 
of  post-mortem  rewards  and  punishments  :  I  might  point  to  coun- 
tries in  which  this  belief  is  universal,  (such  is  the  case  in  Ma- 
homedan  and  Pagan  lands,)  and  consider  the  moral  and  religious 
condition  of  those  countries  :  I  might  point  to  ages  past  when  no 
voice  was  lifted,  nor  allowed  to  be  lifted,  against  this  tenet,  and 


144  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

expose  the  degradation  and  infamy  of  those  ages;  but  let  this 
pass,  it  will  suffice  to  remark  that  in  our  own  age  and  country,  at 
least  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  criminal  offences  committed,  are 
by  persons  who  believe  and  have  been  educated  in  that  doctrine  : 
when  these  dark  and  mystic  fables,  shall  have  given  place  to 
manlier  and  more  scriptural  views  of  God's  character  and  govern- 
ment, there  is  every  reason  to  think  that  the  tone  of  moral  feeling 
will  be  more  pure  and  elevated. 

In  the  conclusion,  then,  let  me  earnestly  entreat  you,  my 
friends,  to  lay  every  selfish  and  party  consideration  aside,  and 
search  diligently  for  truth;  let  no  croaking  menaces,  dictated  by 
craft,  and  in  all  times  resorted  to  for  their  effect  upon  weak  minds, 
discourage  you  from  the  pursuit,  or  repress  your  efforts  for  mental 
emancipation.  Heed  not  my  opponent's  counsel  by  praying 
to  be  guarded  against  this  or  that  belief:  you  cannot  certainly 
know  which,  or  whether  either,  is  correct ;  it  would  therefore  be  a 
mockery  of  God  to  offer  up  a  prayer  of  the  kind ;  it  would  be 
virtually  asking  him  to  keep  you  in  your  present  faith  right  or 
wrong  !  This  is  the  essence  of  bigotry.  Rather  pray  to  have 
your  minds  disenthralled  from  prejudice — to  have  its  educational 
mists  dissipated,  and  to  be  guarded  against  the  influence  of  self- 
ish or  party  considerations  in  the  search  for  truth.  You  may  be 
told  that  this  or  that  doctrine  is  not  safe  ,•  treat  such  suggestions 
with  the  contempt  they  merit ;  they  have  been  used  by  every  cor- 
rupt party,  whether  in  politics  or  religion,  in  order  to  repress  exer- 
tions toward  reform  :  Not  safe,  is  the  monarchist's  watchword  of 
alarm  against  a  change  in  government ;  the  same  is  echoed  by  the 
Papist  against  reform  in  religion  ;  and  it  is  reiterated  by  the  ad- 
vocates of  an  endless  hell,  against  an  advance  in  divine  knowl- 
edge :  this  watchword  has,  to  some  extent,  accomplished  its 
intended  ends,  but  it  is  becoming  trite,  and  is  losing  its  power. 
Truth  is  safe,  whatever  that  truth  is  ;  and  its  pursuit  is  safe,  for 
should  we  even  fail  of  the  end  we  cannot  but  get  the  nearer  to  it 
for  our  exertions,  and  fail,  if  fail  we  must,  with  thousands  of  the 
noblest  and  purest  of  mankind  who  have  failed  before  us. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  II.  145 

POPULAR  DEBATE,— No.  II. 


UNIVERSALISM  REDUCED  TO  AN   ABSURDITY. 

In  a  popular  attempt  to  refute  this  daring  heresy,  I  deem  it  not 
only  perfectly  allowable,  but  also  the  most  proper  and  successful 
mode,  to  point  out  its  absurd  nature  and  consequences ;  or  in  other 
words,  to  use  the  method  of  argumentation  termed  by  logicians 
the  reductio  ad  absurdum.  I  shall  adopt  this  course  on  the  present 
«)ccasion,  and,  therefore,  I  ask  in  advance  that  my  auditors  will 
pardon,  for  the  motive's  sake,  such  of  my  remarks  as  may  seem 
to  border  on  levity.  I  hold  it  to  be  self-evident,  that  a  doctrine 
which  is  fairly  reducible  to  absurdity,  must  be  false. 

1st. — What  can  we  possibly  gain  by  adopting  the  universalist 
faith  ]  It  is  not  pretended  that  we  shall  thereby  render  out  future 
salvation  more  secure ;  admitting  its  truth,  we  shall  all  share  its 
benefits  in  another  life,  whether  we  have  believed  in  it  or  not.  Per- 
haps we  may  be  told,  that  to  be  possessed  of  this  faith  will  add  to 
o\iT  present  happiness  ;  but  this  cannot  be  granted.  I  am  as  happy 
in  my  belief  at  the  present  as  though  I  were  a  universalist,  and 
I  know  not  but  happier.  There  is  then  nothing  to  be  gained  by 
the  adoption  of  this  faith,  if  even  true  ,•  and  if  it  be  false  !  dread- 
ful !  dreadful  will  be  the  issue  to  those  who  are  deluded  by  it ! 

2nd. — Universalists  manifest  a  marvelous  faculty  in  believing 
the  promises  of  God  ;  but  tell  them  of  his  tkreatenings,  and  you 
will  find  them  nowise  disposed  to  credit  them.  Oh  no,  "  God  is 
too  good  to  punish  men  ;  it  cannot  be  that  he  means  what  he  says 
in  this  matter."  All  which,  to  be  sure,  is  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  carnal  heart.  If  a  father  promise  his  son  an  apple,  or  any 
other  present,  the  little  urchin  will  take  good  care  to  jog  his  mem- 
ory about  it ;  but  if  a  beating  be  promised  he  will  soon  contrive 
to  forget  that,  and  flatter  himself  his  father  will  forget  it  too.  So 
it  is  exactly  with  universalists  in  regard  to  the  deity ! 

3rd. — No  doctrine  could  be  hit  upon  more  consoling  or  con- 
venient to  wicked  men  ,-  for  the  bible  tells  them  thejr  "  shall  not 
live  out  half  their  days;"  and  this  system  says  to  them,  "  Never 
mind  it,  sinners ;  you  shall  go  immediately  to  heaven."    There 

Vol.  I.— N  No.  7. 


146  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

is  a  decided  advantage  accruing  from  sin  according  to  this  teach- 
ing ;  for  if  sin  shortens  men's  days,  it  only  takes  them  the  sooner 
to  heaven !  The  antediluvians,  for  instance,  w^ere,  on  account  of 
their  abominable  crimes,  swept  away  to  glory  by  the  waters  of 
the  flood  !  whilst  poor  old  Noah,  for  his  piety,  was  doomed  to 
linger  for  years  in  this  vale  of  sorrow  !  The  same  was  the  case 
with  the  Sodomites,  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  etc.  who  provoked 
the  wrath  of  God  to  kill  them,  and  take  them  home  to  a  world  of 
bliss  !     A  fine  doctrine,  this. 

4th. — How  would  you  like,  my  brethren,  to  sit  down  in  the 
kingdom  of  God  with  murderers,  adulterers,  thieves,  and  every 
description  of  wicked  persons  ;  the  rag.)  tag  and  bob-tail  of  man- 
kind I  This  will  surely  be  the  case,  if  universalism  be  true  ! 
All  the  moral  classifications  of  human  society  will  be  merged 
in  one  motley  and  conglomerated  mass  !  If  heaven  is  to  be  graced 
with  this  kind  of  neighborhood,  I  can  only  say,  "  0  my  soul, 
come  not  thou  into  their  secret ;  and  to  their  assembly,  mine 
honor,  be  not  thou  united  !"  Those  who  wish  for  such  a  heaven 
may  have  it  to  themselves  for  me. 

5th. — This  doctrine  furnishes  not  an  apology  merely,  hut  even  a 
motive  for  suicide.  Who  would  bear  the  ills  of  life,  its  disap- 
pointments, sorrows,  pains,  bereavements,  &c.  if  at  any  moment 
he  pleased,  he  could  leave  it  for  a  better  1  Surely  universalists 
are  fools  to  buflfet  with  the  storms  of  time,  when  if  they  chose  it 
they  might  at  once  push  home  their  bark  into  a  peaceful  eternity  ! 
If  I  were  of  this  belief,  I  would  look  about  me  for  the  easiest 
mode  of  translation  to  glory,  and  would  put  an  instant  period  to 
this  troublesome  existence  by  drowning,  or  hanging,  or  shooting, 
or  poisoning ;  for  according  to  universalism,  these  are  all  but 
convenient  instruments  of  removal  from  earth  to  heaven  ! 

6th. — It  furnishes  a  motive  to  murder  also.  I  should  certainly 
think  it  right,  if  I  were  of  this  faith,  when  I  saw  my  friends  in 
affliction  or  embarrassment,  to  despatch  them  in  the  easiest  man- 
ner I  could,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  their  misery.  Who  could 
blame  me,  when  my  motive  was  so  good  1 

7th. — Universalists  tell  us  that  all  the  punishment  due  to  sin  is 
inflicted  in  this  life.  Let  me  suppose  a  case.  An  individual 
spends  his  whole  life  in  the  most  atrocious  crimes ;  from  bad  to 
worse  he  goes,  and  goes  with  accumulated  speed,  down  the  steep 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  II.  147 

declivity  of  guilt,  until  his  very  existence  becomes  an  intolerable 
burthen  to  him,  and  he  terminates  it  at  length  by  suicide.  Where 
does  he  receive  his  punishment  for  the  act  of  self-destruction  1 
can  any  one  inform  me  ? 

8th. — But  if  sinners  are  punished  in  this  world,  the  Psalmist  was 
mistaken ;  for  the  prosperous  state  of  wicked  men  excited  his  en- 
vy ;  he  saw  that  "  they  are  not  in  trouble  as  other  men,  neither  are 
they  plagued  like  other  men ;"  that  "  their  eyes  stand  out  with 
fatness,  they  have  more  than  heart  can  wish  :"  and  '•  they  even 
have  no  bands  in  their  rfm/A."  "  Behold  !"  he  exclaims,  "  these 
are  the  ungodly  who  prosper  in  the  world  :  they  increase  in  rich- 
es." Now  all  this  is  quite  another  tune  from  that  which  univer- 
salism  plays  us  !  which  of  the  twain  shall  we  accredit]  Both  we 
cannot. 

Suppose,  my  auditors,  that  we  take  a  peep  into  an  universalian 
futurity :  Strange  scenes  present  themselves  to  our  view !  I  see 
there  together,  in  happy  and  peaceful  fellowship,  the  slanderer 
and  the  slandered — the  assassin  and  his  victims — the  tyrant,  and 
those  who  on  earth  groaned  beneath  his  yoke — the  seducer  of 
innocence,  and  she  whom,  with  a  broken  heart  and  a  ruined  rep- 
utation, he  sent  to  a  premature  grave — the  murdered  son  of  God, 
and  those  who  mocked  him  in  his  dying  agony  ;  all,  in  promis- 
cuous, and  indiscriminate  companionship,  together  !  I  wonder 
how  long  it  will  be  ere  those  glorified  villains  will  fall  back  into 
their  old  habits !  And,  by  the  way,  I  am  here  reminded  of  a 
question  put  to  a  universalist  by  his  own  child,  which  had  the 
effect  of  opening  his  eyes  to  the  ridiculous  and  delusive  character 
of  this  heresy.  The  little  boy  had  been  reading  the  story  of  "  The 
Babes  in  the  Wood  ;"  with  the  inquisitiveness  natural  to  youth  he 
inquired,  "  Father,  where  did  those  babes  go  to  after  they  wexe 
murdered  V  "To  heaven,  of  course,"  replied  the  parent.  "And 
where  did  the  wicked  men  go  to  who  murdered  them  V  "  Why, 
I  suppose,'*  the  father  stammeringly  replied,  "  that  they  went  to 
heaven  too."  "  But  wont  they  murder  the  poor  children  again  ?" 
the  boy  once  more  inquired  :  and  to  this  question  the  father  could 
render  no  reply;  it  proved  a  means,  with  God's  blessing,  of 
awakening  him  to  the  awfully  insecure  nature  of  the  universalian 
system. 


148  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVER3AL1SM. 


REPLY  TO  THE  ABOVE. 


The  opponents  of  our  faith  are  welcome  to  select  against  i§ 
whatever  weapon  they  may  deem  most  effectual :  if  they  are 
able,  without  a  distortion  of  its  features,  to  exhibit  it  in  a  ridicu- 
lous light,  we  will  not  complain ;  for  we  think  (as  my  opponent 
has  said)  that  a  doctrine  must  be  false  which  can  fairly  be  redu- 
ced to  an  absurdity.  It  may,  however,  turn  out,  ere  we  are  done, 
that  my  opponent  will  attain  an  experimental  persuasion  of  the 
truth  of  the  proverb,  that  "  people  who  live  in  glass  houses 
should  not  throw  stones." 

First,  we  are  asked,  what  is  to  be  gained  by  the  adoption  of  the 
universalist  belief?  It  might  as  well  be  asked  what  is  to  be  gain- 
ed by  believing  in  the  Copernican,  rather  than  in  the  Ptolemaic 
system  of  astronomy  1  or  in  the  true  view  of  any  science  rather 
than  in  the  false  ]  What  is  to  be  gained  !  so  much  that  hours 
would  scarcely  suffice  for  telling ;  yet  it  may  be  comprehended  in 
the  declaration,  that  all  is  to  be  gained  that  is  implied  in  being 
translated  out  of  superstitious  darkness  into  divine  light.  That 
it  will  make  our  after-death  felicity  no  more  certain,  is  granted  ; 
and  my  opponent  must  also  grant  that  the  same  is  the  case  with 
literary,  scientific,  or  any  other  kind  of  knowledge :  but  will  he 
therefore  say  that  they  are  useless  ?  Such,  at  least,  is  the  logical 
deduction  from  his  argument !  But  he  informs  us  that  he  is  as 
happy,  during  the  present,  in  his  belief,  as  he  could  be  in  mine. 
Perhaps  so.  What  is  his  belief]  It  is  no  less  than  this  :  that 
untold  millions  of  human  beings,  among  whom  may  be  his 
own  father  and  mother,  wife  and  children,  and  possibly  himself, 
shall  groan  forever  beneath  the  wrath  of  God  J  Is  he  as  happy 
in  this  persuasion,  as  if  he  confidently  trusted  that  all  our  race 
will  at  last  be  the  subject  of  unending  holiness  and  felicity  in 
heaven  ?  I  hope,  for  the  honor  of  his  heart,  that  he  did  not  feel 
as  he  spoke  when  he  gave  utterance  to  so  monstrous  a  sentiment ! 

2nd. — He  charges  us  with  being  more  ready  to  accredit  the 
promises  than  the  threafenings  of  God.  It  is  sufficient  that  I  deny 
this  charge,  and  affirm,  that  we  have  too  good  an  opinion  of  the 
veracity  of  the  divine  Being,  to  suppose,  that  he  has  threatened 
punishments  which  he  will  never  inflict ;  and  of  his  benevolence,  to 
suppose  that  his  inflictions  will  not  consist  with  the  ultimate  well 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  II.  149 

being  of  ihe  offender.  And  if  such  are  the  nature  and  end  of  the 
divine  retributions,  why  should  we  be  loth  to  believe  the  threaten- 
ings  respecting  them  ]  I  truly  can  see  no  reason.  His  simile  of 
the  lad  and  his  father  does  not  fairiy  illustrate  the  case  :  nor  is  it 
natural,  for  a  child  is  as  much  inclined  to  believe  his  parent  whea 
he  threatens  as  when  he  promises^  provided  the  threatening  be 
just  and  reasonable  in  itself;  but  if  a  father  should  menace  his 
son  with  the  cutting  his  throat,  or  dashing  out  his  brains,  the  son 
might  well  not  think  him  serious,  except  he  have  previously  known 
him  for  a  brutal  tyrant.  So  it  is  with  universalisis  in  regard  to 
our  Father  in  heaven  ;  we  believe  what  he  has  threatened  ;  not 
what  my  opponent's  creed  says  he  has  threatened  ;  we  cannot  so 
far  outrage  his  justice  and  benevolence. 

3rd. — Our  doctrine,  it  seems,  "  is  very  consoling  to  wicked 
men:^^  well,  this  circumstance  surely  does  not  disprove  its  iden- 
tity with  the  gospel,  for  that  is  termed  "  glad  tidings  of  great  joy 
which  shall  be  unto  all  people."  But  my  opponent  represents  it 
as  holding  out  encouragement  to  sin,  by  telling  men  that  the 
shorter  they  render  their  stay  on  earth  by  their  crimes,  the  sooner 
they  will  get  to  heaven.  Now  this  objection  to  universalism 
rests  on  the  false  assumption,  that  men  pass,  according  to  this 
theory,  immediately  from  earth  to  heaven.  This  is  a  mistake  ; 
we  pretend  not  to  know  what  is  the  condition  of  men  intermedi- 
ately to  death  and  the  resurrection  ;  we  have  the  assurance  of 
Christ  that  the  subjects  of  the  resurrection  will  be  "  as  the  angels 
of  God  in  heaven,"  "  neither  do  they  die  any  more,  but  are  the 
children  of  God,  being  the  children  of  the  resurrection  :"  (Luke 
Kx.  36.)  and  Paul  also  fully  satisfies  us  that  the  resurrection  state 
wf  mankind  will  be  one  of  incorruption,  immortality,  and  glory. 
1 1  Cor.  XV.)  We  then  are  content  with  believing  within  scrip- 
ture warrant,  and  affect  not  to  be  wise  above  what  is  written  rela- 
tive to  the  future  state.*  Our  opponents,  on  the  contrary,  assume, 
that  so  soon  as  men  die  they  have  an  endless  abode  assigned  them 
either  in  heaven  or  hell,  according  as  they  have  been  righteous  or 
wicked  on  earth.  We  shall  see  now  that  my  friend's  objection 
rebounds  against  his  own  dogma.  He  will  admit  that  Moses  and 
Aaron,  because  of  their  disobedience  to  the  divine  command  in 

♦  The  reader  will  find  inquiries  upon  this  Bubject  at  some  length  in  a  future  No. 
Vol.  I.— n  2 


150  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

certain  cases,  were  cut  off  from  the  earth,  and  denied  the  privi- 
lege of  accompanying  the  host  of  Israel  into  the  promised  land, 
(Deut.  xxxii.  49,  50.)  But  Moses  and  Aaron,  according  to  my 
friend's  creed,  Avent  immediately  to  heaven,  and  it  thence  follows 
that  their  disobedience  was  advantageous  to  them ;  it  took  them 
the  sooner  to  heaven  !  Moreover,  my  friend  may  according  to  the 
course  of  nature  have  full  fifty  years  yet  to  live,  which  is  a  long 
time  to  be  kept  out  of  the  world  of  bliss :  but  suppose  he  should 
murder  his  neighbour  to-morrow,  and  improve  (as  nearly  all  mur- 
derers do)  the  space  between  the  sentence  of  death  and  its  execu- 
tion, by  repentance  ;  his  peace  with  God  may  soon  be  effected, 
and  his  arrival  in  the  realms  of  glory  will  be  the  earlier  for  his 
crime  by  half  a  century  !  Here  is  encouragement  to  crime  with 
a  witness  !  Universalism  tells  men  that  sin  will  not  in  any  case, 
can  not,  go  unpunished.  Does  this  encourage  them  to  sin  ]  No, 
surely,  except  they  covet  punishment :  on  the  other  hand,  my  op- 
ponent's doctrine  tells  them  "  you  will  not  be  punished  in  this 
life,  nor  (provided  you  repent)  in  another."  Of  course  every 
villain  promises  himself  that  he  will  repent,  and  thus  secure  an 
immunity  from  punishment  in  both  worlds.  Which  now  is  the 
theory  which  holds  out  inducement  to  crime? 

4th. — My  friend  is  most  morbidly  apprehensive,  that  if  our 
heresy  be  true  he  shall  not  meet  in  heaven  with  society  as  pure  and 
holy  as  himself!  I  will  essay  to  quiet  his  nerves  upon  this  head. 
True,  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  tell  him  (even  on  his  own  ground) 
that  he  will  meet  no  murderers  there,  for  he  expects  to  meet 
Moses,  David,  Paul,  and  others,  against  whom  ihe  crime  of  mur- 
der stands  recorded  in  the  inspired  record,  (see  Exod.  ii.  12.  2  Sam. 
xi.  15.  Acts  viii.  1.  ix.  1.)  Neither  can  I  promise  him  that  heaven 
will  contain  no  incestuous  persons,  or  drunkards,  for  he  expects  to 
join  Noah  and  Lot  there ;  the  former  of  whom  was  guilty  of  one  of 
these  crimes,  and  the  latter  of  both,  (see  Gen.  ix.  21.  ibid.  xix.  30 
—36.)  I  can  tell  him  too  of  fornicators,  adulterers,  thieves,  swear- 
ers, &c.,  whom  he  thinks  he  shall  see  in  heaven,  and  with  whom 
he  thinks  he  can  enjoy  good  fellowship  without  moral  contamina- 
tion, (see  Hosea  i.  2,  3.  2  Sam.  xi.  4.  Luke  xiii.  43.  Mat.  xvii.  74. 
&c.)  Why  then  does  my  opponent  urge  against  our  faith  an  objec- 
tion which  makes  equally  against  his  own  ?  If  he  cannot  consent 
to  enjoy  the  felicity  of  that  bright  world  in  company  with  his  fel- 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  II.  151 

low  sinners,  I  know  of  no  help  for  him;  for  I  scarcely  think  that 
another  heaven  will  be  prepared  for  the  exclusive  use  of  some  few 
Simon  pures  of  his  own  stamp  ! 

He  will  tell  us,  perhaps,  that  the  persons  who  committed  the 
crimes  above  mentioned,  are  saved,  according  to  his  doctrine, 
upon  the  condition  of  repentance  .•  well,  we  also  admit  that  no 
man  can  enjoy  God  except  he  is  first  morally  qualified  for  that  en- 
joyment ;  he  supposes  that  only  a  few  will  attain  this  qualifica- 
tion ;  we  think  (and  upon  sufficient  bible  warrant  too)  that  all  will 
attain  it.  The  difference  between  us,  therefore,  has  less  respect 
to  the  nature  of  the  principle,  than  to  the  extent  of  its  applica' 
Hon.  According  to  his  creed  nearly  all  murderers  are  saved  ;  it 
rarely  happens  that  one  is  led  to  the  gallows,  who  does  not 
express  a  confidence  of  his  acceptance  with  God  ;  and  they  are 
usually  accompanied  by  ministers  of  the  gospel,  who  expressly 
sanction  this  proceeding.  Indeed,  the  situation  of  the  murderer 
after  his  sentence,  is  decidedly  more  favourable  to  the  great  busi- 
ness of  preparation  for  heaven,  than  is  that  of  the  honest  member 
of  society  who  dies  upon  his  bed  ;  the  former  has  his  faculties  in 
full  play,  his  days  are  numbered,  he  almost  knows  his  hour;  in 
the  solitude  of  his  cell  he  is  subject  to  few  interruptions  ;  holy 
men,  and  books  adapted  to  aid  his  devotions,  are  at  his  com- 
mand ;  hence  it  rarely  happens  that  this  awful  interval  is  not 
improved  in  the  manner  aforementioned  :  and  it  may  be  asserted 
with  undoubted  truth  that,  according  to  the  creed  of  endless  mis- 
ery, there  are  infinitely  more  murderers  saved  than  of  honest  men, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  each  class !  How  does  my  friend 
like  that  result  1 

5th. — Let  us  now  look  at  the  declaration  that  universalism 
furnishes  a  motive  to  suicide.  I  have  already  shown  that  we  do 
not  believe  in  an  immediate  translation  from  earth  to  heaven ; 
wherein  then  consisteth  the  inducement  to  self-destruction!  Of 
all  people  on  earth  we  have  the  least  reason  for  being  dissat- 
isfied with  the  present  life;  for  according  to  our  view,  all  its 
sorrows,  temptations,  trials,  disappointments,  &c.,  are  appointed 
by  infinite  love,  to  exercise  us  here  for  our  hereafter  advantage. 
If  we  imagined  that  an  endless  hell  awaited  us  when  we  leave 
this  brief  life  of  tears,  and  that  each  crime  we  committed  might 
sink  us  the  deeper  in  its  fiery  surges,  it  is  probable  that  we 


152  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

should  become  desperate  from  despair,  and  rush  headlong  (like 
the  charmed  bird  ihat  flies  within  the  serpent's  reach)  into  the 
very  ruin  we  were  most  concerned  to  shun.  Alas  !  how  many  a 
tender  and  amiable  being  has  fallen  a  victim  to  this  dreadful 
persuasion !  The  benevolent  Cowper  had  nearly  been  included 
in  the  number.  But  surely  the  universalist,  whose  faith  dispels 
these  murky  clouds  from  his  moral  sky,  and  conducts  him  in  an- 
ticipation to  an  universally  bright  and  glorious  conclusion  of  all 
things,  may  well  be  content  with,  and  cheerful  under,  the  dis- 
pensations of  life,  however  dark  at  the  present  those  dispensa- 
tions be. 

6th. — And  a  motive  to  murder  also  !  "  Now  mark"  (as  Sir 
William  Draper  saith  in  his  letters  to  Junius,)  "  how  plain  a  tale 
shall  put  him  down,  and  transfuse  the  blush  into  his  own  cheek."" 
On  the  ground  of  pity^  he  alleges,  he  could,  consistently  with 
our  faith,  murder  a  person  laboring  under  distress  and  embar- 
rassment; and  despatch  him  to  a  better  world.  But  I  will 
show  you,  my  auditors,  that  agreeably  to  his  own  creed,  the  motive 
to  murder  upon  this  ground,  is  infinitely  greater.  He  is  a  father : 
if  he  looks  with  an  impartial  eye  around  him  he  will  see,  that 
not  more  than  one  in  twenty  of  the  human  race  (even  within  the 
limits  of  Christendom)  die  in  possession  of  the  fitness  for  heaven 
which  he  thinks  is  alone  attainable  in  this  brief  existence  ;  con- 
sequently the  chances  of  endless  damnation  against  those  of  salva- 
tion, in  regard  to  every  person  who  grows  to  a  responsible  age,  is, 
at  the  least,  as  nineteen  to  one !  At  the  same  time  he  believes 
that  all  who  die  in  infancy  go  to  heaven.  What  a  motive  is  here, 
then,  to  infanticide !  What  parent  can  think  of  aiding  the  pro- 
gress of  his  offspring  toward  maturity  in  view  of  this  fact ! 
Nineteen  chances  in  the  scale  against  his  soul,  to  one  in  his  favor » 
On  the  ground  of  revenge  also,  the  motive  to  murder  is  great  ac- 
cording to  my  opponent's  creed.  An  individual  entertained  against 
another  a  most  deadly  hostility ;  he  brooded  for  some  time  over 
several  plans  of  mischief  toward  him,  but  none  seemed  sufficient- 
ly deep  to  satisfy  him.  "  If  even  I  take  his  life,"  thought  he, 
*'  he  is  so  good  a  christian  that  I  shall  but  be  doing  him  the  favor 
of  hastening  his  exit  to  eternal  happiness."  At  length  he  be- 
thought him  of  a  scheme  ;  he  waylaid  his  object,  got  his  person 
fully  within  his  power :  "  Renounce  your  God,"  said  he,  "  or  I 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  II.  153 

plunge  this  dagger  to  your  heart."  The  poor  wretch,  listening 
wholly  to  his  fears,  did  as  he  was  bidden;  he  renounced  God: 
whereupon  his  enemy  immediately  despatched  him,  exclaiming 
"  Now  I  have  ruined  you  body  and  soul,  and  am  fully  avenged." 

7th. — Universalists,  it  seems,  are  quite  wide  of  the  truth  in 
affirming  that  sinners  are  here  punished  for  their  sins  !  My  oppo- 
nent has  found  scriptural  proof  to  the  contrary  !  Well,  if  this  be 
so  we  have  scripture  proof  against  scripture  proof;  for  the  bible 
saith  "  the  righteous  shall  be  recompensed  in  the  earth,  much  more 
the  wicked  and  the  sinner."  (Prov.  xi.  31.)  But  it  is  no^  so ; 
the  very  authority  he  quoted  is  direct  against  him.  (see  Psl.  Ixxiii.) 
David,  in  this  Psalm,  sets  out  with  the  declaration  that,  "  truly  God 
is  good  to  Israel,  even  to  such  as  are  of  a  clean  heart ;"  he  goes 
on  to  say  that  he  had  formerly  doubted  this  fact,  and  had  supposed 
that  the  wicked  were  more  favored  than  the  righteous ;  a  merely 
superficial  view  of  human  life  had  led  him  to  false  conclusions  in 
this  matter ;  and  he  gave  way  to  discontent,  supposing  that  it  was 
in  vain  that  he  had  cleansed  his  hands,  and  preferred  the  service 
of  God.  But  when  he  went  into  the  sanctuary  he  was  undeceived, 
he  there  learned  that  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  is  but  in  ap- 
pearance ;  that  it  is  unstable,  liable  to  sudden  reverses :  and, 
moreover,  that  they  "  are  utterly  consumed  with  terrors,"  and 
subject  to  be  visited  with  swift  desolation.  He  thence  confesses 
that  his  former  complaints  were  foolish  and  brutal,  and  ends  with 
declaring  "  It  is  good  for  me  to  draw  near  to  God,"  &c.  Now  it 
must  be  apparent  to  all  who  look  candidly  into  this  case,  that  the 
very  sentiment  which  David  confesses  to  have  adopted  hastily  and 
in  ignorance  of  the  fact,  is  now  put  gravely  forth  by  my  opponent 
as  an  established  revealed  truth  !  I  request  him  to  lay  his  hand  up- 
on his  heart  and  ask  himself,  "  Do  I  regret  that  I  have  chosen  the 
service  of  God  (even  if  there  be  no  hereafter  consequence  from  it) 
in  preference  to  the  pursuits  of  sin  1"  Let  him,  I  say,  put  this  ques- 
tion directly  to  his  conscience ;  if  it  render  an  affirmative  answer, 
its  moral  state  must  be  such  as  no  true  christian  can  envy  :  on 
the  other  hand,  if  its  response  be  negative,  his  doctrine  that  sin  is 
not  here  punished,  nor  virtue  rewarded,  is  refuted  by  his  own 
experience. 

8th.— We  are  asked  a  question  in  relation  to  the  suicide,  which 
I  confess  to  be  as  difficult  an  one  as  can  be  propounded  against 


154  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

our  system.  Allowing  that  in  a  long  career  of  crime  he  received 
a  due  amount  of  punishment  for  every  offence,  where  does  he  re- 
ceive the  penalty  for  the  last  act,  that  of  self-destruction  ?  1  will 
endeavor  to  answer  this  question  :  difficult,  I  acknowledge  it, 
but  not  insuperable.  First,  then,  I  observe  that  life  is  a  blessing, 
and  when  an  individual  deprives  himself  of  a  blessing,  he  sustains 
a  loss  of  course,  and  that  loss  is  a  suitable  and  adequate  punish- 
ment. That  life  is  a  blessing,  is  clearly  assumed  in  the  scriptures : 
length  of  days  is  often  promised  to  the  righteous,  while  sinners 
are  menaced  with  the  reverse.  If  either  of  you,  my  auditors,  should 
rashly  throw  away  all  your  earthly  fortune,  would  not  the  loss  of 
that  fortune  be  an  adequate  penalty  for  your  rashness?  And 
Secondly,  I  observe,  that  ere  a  person  can  consent  to  part  with  life 
by  his  own  act,  he  must  have  previously  undergone  the  very  extrem- 
ity of  mental  suffering  ;  for  so  deeply  seated  a  sentiment  is  the  love 
of  life  in  the  human  bosom,  that  it  is  rarely  eradicated  whilst 
reason  retains  its  empire.  Dreary  indeed  must  be  the  state  of 
that  heart,  to  which  the  cold  grave  becomes  a  welcome  refuge 
from  existence  !  Self-murder  is,  indeed,  often  in  itself  the  penalty 
of  a  life  of  crime  :  the  wretch  who  becomes  his  own  executioner 
is  frequently  driven  thereto  by  the  numerous  and  complex  evils 
which  his  guilt  has  brought  down  upon  his  head.  But  more 
often,  it  is  to  be  feared,  does  suicide  result  from  mental  misfor- 
tunes for  which  the  subject  is  nowise  responsible. 

Lastly,  we  come  to  the  peep  into  our  universalian  futurity,  with 
which  it  pleased  my  opponent  to  indulge  us.  "  There,"  quoth 
he,  "  are  the  murderer  and  his  victims — the  seduced  and  the  se- 
ducer— the  tyrant,  and  his  slaves — the  crucified  son  of  God,  and 
those  who  mocked  him  in  his  dying  agonies."  Well ;  better 
thus,  I  trow,  than  to  have  this  state  of  things  reversed ;  Jesus 
prayed  for  his  murderers  :  will  it  shock  his  benevolent  soul  to 
find  his  dying  prayer  answered  in  their  forgiveness  ?  The  mar- 
tyred Stephen  supplicated  that  the  bloody  deed  of  those  who 
stoned  him  should  not  be  laid  to  their  charge.  Will  it  grieve  him 
to  meet  them  in  a  world  of  universal  peace  and  reconciliation  1 
Paul  was  one  of  them,  and  him,  at  least,  even  by  my  opponent's 
admission,  Stephen  will  sit  down  in  fellowship  with. 

Pardon  me,  my  friends,  if  I  so  far  trifle  with  this  subject,  as 
to- notice  the  smart  little  master's  question  ralative  to  the  "  Bahcs 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  II.  155 

in  the  Wood;''''  by  which,  it  seems,  his  naughty  universalist  papa 
■was  converted  to  the  comforting  belief  of  an  endless  hell !  I 
shrewdly  suspect,  however,  that  this  is  but  apous  hoax^  of  the  trad 
family  :  we  will  look  at  it  nevertheless.  Saul,  (afterward  called 
Paul),  persecuted  the  saints.  My  friend  will  admit  that  these 
saints  went  to  heaven,  and  that  Paul  went  there  too  :  will  he  not 
persecute  them  again  %  Where  did  Uriah  go  to  after  his  murder? 
My  friend  will  probably  say  "  to  heaven."  And  when  David 
died,  where  went  he  ]  "  He  went  to  heaven  also."  But  will  he 
not  murder  Uriah  again  ?  And  will  not  Lot  get  drunk,  and  com- 
mit incest  again  in  that  world  ?  And  Peter  repeat  the  denial  of 
his  Lord  ?  &c.  &c.  A  puerile  argument  this,  you  perceive  ;  but 
my  opponent  deemed  it  worthy  of  serious  consideration  in  favor 
of  his  dogma  of  endless  suffering,  and  it  is  full  worthy  of  that 
cause. 

We  may  now,  I  presume,  without  sacrilege,  peep  into  the  futu- 
rity of  my  opponent.  Alackaday !  we  shall  see  a  spectacle  of 
spectacles  !  Parents,  children,  wives,  husbands,  brothers,  sisters, 
neighbors,  friends,  severed  for  eternity ;  some  singing  in  heaven, 
some  screaming  in  hell !  ,  There  are  in  the  realms  of  bliss  many 
miscreants,  as  red  with  blood  as  murder  could  make  them;  who 
cancelled  their  crimes  by  a  brief  term  of  repentance  before  death; 
and  they  now  see  far  down  in  the  deeps  of  eternal  suffering  beneath 
them,  many  of  the  unhappy  victims  whom  they  were  the  instru- 
ments in  sending  thither  with  their  sins  upon  their  heads  ! 

There,  among  the  blest,  is  Zedekiah,  who  caused  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem  to  flow  with  blood — there  Charles  V.  of  Spain,  who 
drenched  nearly  the  whole  eastern  continent  in  gore — Lewis  XL 
who  boasted  that  he  had  slaughtered  more  than  200,000  heretics — 
St.  Dominic,  who  founded  the  Inquisition — Peter  the  hermit,  M^ho 
instigated  the  crusades — the  bloody  Mary  of  England,  and  nu- 
merous other  sainted  miscreants,  whose  names  come  down  to  us 
loaded  with  the  execrations  of  mankind :  but  who,  nevertheless, 
are  supposed  to  have  died  "  in  the  odour  of  sanctity  :"  how  many 
of  the  victims  of  their  cruelty  are  groaning  amongst  the  damned  it 
is  not  in  human  power  to  estimate  !*   My  friend  supposes  it  a  hor- 

*  1  took  uj)  a  paper  a  few  weeks  since,  containing  the  sentence  and  accompanying 
address  of  a  judge  to  a  criminal,  doomed  to  execution  for  the  murder  of  his  brother's 
Wife.    "You,"  tiaid  the  judge,  (in  substance,  I  pretend  not  to  give  his  words,)  "  will 


156  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

lid  result  of  our  faith,  that  the  seducer  of  innocence  should  be 
found  at  last  in  heaven,  in  company  with  her  whom  he  had  sent 
with  a  broken  heart  and  ruined  reputation  to  an  untimely  grave. 
Alas  !  if  this  consequence  shocks  him,  what  must  he  think  of  his 
own  dogma  ]  according  to  which  the  ruined  and  broken  hearted 
girl  may  have  been  driven,  not  to  a  premature  and  ignominious 
grave  merely,  but  to  an  unending  abode  in  hell  !  And  the 
wretch  who  brought  down  upon  her  this  temporal  and  eternal 
blight,  may  by  timely  penitence,  have  secured  for  himself  an  abode 
among  the  blest!  What,  too,  must  he  think  of  a  doctrine  which 
peoples  heaven  with  parents  bereaved  for  ever  of  their  children, 
and  children  of  their  parents,  which  sunders  for  eternity  those 
sacred  ties  by  which  the  God  of  nature  has  bound  human  beings 
together ;  and  which  have  for  their  prototype  the  relation  which  he 
himself  bears  to  every  sentient  creature  of  his  power?  Which, 
I  would  ask  him,  is  the  more  cheering  and  consistent  view  to  in- 
dulge relative  to  futurity  ;  that  which  implies  a  frustration  of 
God's  designs  in  creation,  and  that  men  will  possess  in  eternity 
the  dispositions  and  qualities  which  characterise  them  here ;  or 
that  all  the  plans  and  purposes  of  Jehovah  respecting  our  race 
shall  be  fully  consummated  ;  and  all  mankind,  saved  from  sin- 
reconciled  to  God  and  each  other — assimilated  to  the  divine 
nature,  shall  attain  to  that  glory  and  felicity  which  is  the  end  of 
their  creation  ]  Let  conscience  and  common  sense  candidly  an- 
swer this  question,  ere  an  attempt  is  made  to  ridicule  an  univer- 
salian  futurity.    Thus  endeth  my  reply. 


have  opportunity  for  making  your  peace  with  God,  and  will  receive  every  aid  in  this 
business  which  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  reverend  clergymen  to  give  you.  Not  such 
was  the  case  with  the  unhappy  woman  whom  you  murdered  ;  she  was  hurried  to  the 
bar  of  heaven  with  all  her  sins  upon  her  soul."  Here  then  is  a  case  in  point :  the  un- 
fortunate sister-in-law  is  to  wail  with  the  lost,  and  to  behold  her  murderer  rejoicing  whh 
the  saved  !  Wm.  Gibbs,  the  pirate  who  was  hung  some  years  since  at  New-York,  con- 
fessed that  he  had  been  accessory  to  the  murder  of  400  persons:  these  were  murdered 
on  the  high  seas,  or  upon  our  coasts :  all  acquainted  with  this  class  of  persons  know 
that  they  are  usually  not  over-burthened  with  a  concern  about  the  future  ;  it  would 
therefore  be  speaking  within  boimds  to  say,  that  350out  of  the  400,  were  sent  to  eterni- 
ty in  impenitence,  and  duomed  ui  an  endless  hell  of  course.  The  pirate,  on  the  contra- 
ry, had  space  allowed  him  for  repentance  ;  was  attended  upon  by  his  priests,  &c.  (he 
w;ia  a  catholic)  and  when  led  out  to  execution  he  expressed  himself  as  if  assured 
of  forgiveness  and  a  happy  futurity.  Fancy  him  now  in  heaven,  looking  down 
upon  aso  of  his  victims  in  hell ! 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  157 


POPULAR  DEBATE.— No.  III. 


RELATIVE  TO  THE  CLOSING  PARAGRAPH  OF  MATTHEW  XXV. 

UNIVERSALIAN  VIEWS  OF  SAID  PASSAGE. 

I  feel,  my  auditors,  the  magnitude  of  the  task  I  have  undertaken 
rektive  to  the  subject  before  us  :  it  is  two-fold  in  its  nature  ;  first, 
*.o  uproot  from  your  minds  prepossessions  of  long  standing,  and 
associated  with  your  earliest  remembrances  :  and  secondly,  to  in- 
troduce and  impress  in  their  stead  ideas  entirely  novel  to  you,  and 
in  contrariety  to  those  entertained  by  full  fifteen  sixteenths  of  all 
Christendom.  Nevertheless,  as  I  have  in  my  own  mind  the  ut- 
most assurance  of  the  truth  of  my  views,  and  as  I  know  the  docu- 
ments by  which  I  am  to  sustain  them  to  be  clear  and  unequivo- 
cal, I  enter  upon  the  undertaking  without  the  smallest  solicitude  as 
to  the  result ;  requesting  only  that  you  will  listen  to,  and  weigh 
with  impartial  attention,  all  that  shall  be  adduced  on  both  sides. 
As  my  friend  of  the  opposite  faith  is  to  follow  in  a  review  of  my 
arguments,  I  shall  not  anticipate  many  of  his  objections  ;  but 
will  attend  to  them,  as  they  come  from  himself,  in  my  rejoinder. 
"  When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his  glory,  and  all  the  holy 
angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory : 
And  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations ;  and  he  shall  sepa- 
rate them  one  from  another,  as  a  shepherd  divideth  his  sheep  from 
the  goats  :  And  he  shall  set  the  sheep  on  his  right  hand,  but  the 
goats  on  the  left.  Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his 
light  hand.  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  :  For  I  was  a 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat :  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me 
drink  :  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in  :  naked,  and  ye 
clothed  me :  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited  me :  I  was  in  prison,  and 
ye  came  unto  me.  Then  shall  the  righteous  answer  him,  saying, 
Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  a  hungered,  and  fed  thee?  or  thirsty,  and 
gave  thee  drink  ?  When  saw  we  tKee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee 
inf  or  naked,  and  clothed  thee?  Or  when  saw  we  thee  sick,  or 
in  prison,  and  came  unto  thee  ?     And  the  King  shall  answer  and 

Vol.  L— O 


158  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

say  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  dons 
it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto 
me.  Then  shall  he  say  also  unto  them  on  his  left  hand,  Depart 
from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and 
his  angels  :  For  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  no  meat:  I 
was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  no  drink :  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye 
took  me  not  in  :  naked,  and  ye  clothed  me  not :  sick,  and  in 
prison,  and  ye  visited  me  not.  Then  shall  they  also  answer  him, 
saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee  a  hungered,  or  athirst,  or  a 
stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and  did  not  minister  unto 
thee  1  Then  shall  he  answer  them,  saying.  Verily,  I  say  unto 
you.  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  not  to  one  of  the  least  of  these,  ye  did 
it  not  to  me.  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment ;  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal."  (Mat.  xxv.  31 — 46.) 
1st. — I  observe  that  there  is  no  mention  in  the  text  of  a  refer- 
ence to  the  future  world  ;  no  intimation  that  the  events  it  describes 
are  to  transpire  subsequent  to  the  resurrection  ;  all  this  rests  on 
the  mere  assumption  of  our  opponents.  On  the  contrary,  the 
passage  bears  evidence  on  its  face  that  its  true  and  intended  ap- 
plication is  to  things  of  time  .*  this  is  what  I  propose  to  make 
apparent,  in  opposition  to  the  generally  received  opinion,  that  it 
describes  a  judgment  in  eternity.  Mark  well  the  reading  of  the 
passage  :  "  And  before  him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations,  and  he 
shall  separate  them  one  from  another."  Separate  whom  1  Every 
grammarian  knows  that  nations  is  the  antecedent  to  the  pronoup 
the7n  in  this  place ;  nations,  then,  are  what  are  to  be  judged, 
and  separated,  at  the  time  to  which  the  text  looks  forward  :  this 
is  a  different  thing  entirely  from  the  sort  of  judgment  to  which  it 
is  commonly  applied  ;  for  that  supposes  that  all  the  human  family 
will  be  parcelled  out,  according  to  moral  classification,  and 
severed  individually  from  one  another :  husband  from  wife,  pa- 
rent from  child,  &c.  but  nothing  of  the  kind  is  intimated  here. 
Are  our  opponents  willing  to  abide  a  literal  application  of  the  text 
to  a  judgment  in  eternity]  If  so,  we  shall  have  the  different 
nations  of  mankind  severed  from  each  other;  and  whilst  some,  en 
masie,  are  taken  to  heaven,  others  will  be  driven  to  hell !  Surely 
they  will  not  admit  this  as  true  ;  and  yet  on  their  own  plan  of 
exposition  it  most  assuredly  is,  according  to  the  grammatical  im- 
port of  the  language. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  159 

2nd. If  this  text  describes  an  after-death  judgment,  it  is  plain 

that  salvation  will  be  awarded  strictly  on  the  ground  of  works  \ 
and  this  is  contrary  to  the  plain  teaching  of  the  bible,  and  to  the 
avowed  doctrine  of  every  protestant  church  !  "  For  I  was  an 
hungered,  and  ye  gave  me  meat:"  &c.  No  mention  made  of 
faith,  repentance,  regeneration,  or  any  other  generally  admitted 
prerequisite  to  salvation. 

3d. — These  features  (not  to  mention  others)  of  the  text,  de- 
mand for  it  an  exposition  different  from  that  which  is  usually 
given  ;  this  I  shall  in  all  simplicity  attempt.  Observe  then,  that 
the  subject  matter  of  it  is,  the  coming  of  Christ  in  glory — accom- 
panied by  angels — the  gathering  of  all  nations — and  the  rewarding 
them  according  to  their  works.  Suppose  now  that  it  can  be  shown, 
that  these  events  were  to  transpire  within  a  third  of  a  century 
from  the  lime  of  Christ's  ascension  :  will  not  the  popular  views 
concerning  it  be  at  once  refuted  ?  Well,  this  is  precisely  what  I 
propose  to  do. 

4th.— See  first,  verses  30,  31,  of  the  preceding  chapter: 
*'  And  then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven; 
and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall 
see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power 
and  great  glory.  And  he  shall  send  his  angels  with  a  great 
sound  o(^  tt  tiuiiipet,  and  they  shall  gailier  together  his  elect 
from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to  the  other."  Can 
it  be  denied  that  this  is  the  identical  coming  noticed  in  my  text? 
Mark  well,  then,  the  verses  immediately  succeeding,  "Now 
learn  a  parable  of  the  fig-tree,  When  his  branch  is  yet  tender,  and 
puttelh  forth  leaves,  ye  know  that  summer  is  nigh :  So  likewise 
ye,  when  ye  shall  see  all  these  things,  know  that  it  is  near,  even  at 
the  doors.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  This  generation  shall  not  pass, 
till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled."  Here  you  have  the  time  fixed 
by  the  solemn  asseveration  of  Christ  himself.  And  that  you  may 
be  assured  that  this  parallelism  is  not  solitary,  nor  accidental, 
I  will  introduce  Mark  and  Luke  to  the  same  point;  in  Mark 
xiii.  26—30,  it  reads  as  follows:  "And  then  they  shall  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds,  with  great  power  and 
glory.  And  then  shall  he  send  his  angels,  and  shall  gather  to- 
gether his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth  to  the  uttermost  part  of  heaven.     Now,  learn  a  parable  of 


160  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  fig-tree ;  When  her  branch  is  yet  tender,  and  putteth  forth 
leaves,  ye  know  that  summer  is  near  :  So  ye,  in  like  manner, 
when  ye  shall  see  these  things  come  to  pass,  know  that  it  is  nigh, 
even  at  the  doors.  Verily  1  say  unto  you.  That  this  generation 
shall  not  pass,  till  all  these  things  be  done."  In  Luke,  chapter 
xxi.  28 — 32,  the  same  is  expressed  in  nearly  the  same  terms  : 
*'  And  when  these  things  begin  to  come  to  pass,  then  look 
up,  and  lift  up  your  heads ;  for  your  redemption  draweth 
nigh.  And  he  spake  to  them  a  parable ;  Behold  the  fig-tree,  and 
all  the  trees  ;  When  they  now  shoot  forth,  ye  see  and  know  of 
yourselves  that  summer  is  nigh  at  hand.  So  likewise  ye,  when 
ye  see  these  things  come  to  pass,  know  ye  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  nigh  at  hand.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  This  generation  shall 
not  pass  away  till  all  be  fulfilled."  Here  are  three  distinct  tes- 
timonies to  the  fact  that  the  coming  of  Christ  to  judge  the  nations, 
was  to  take  place  within  the  then  existing  generation.  Christ 
even  proceeds  to  caution  his  disciples  how  to  regulate  their  con- 
duct with  reference  to  that  event;  that  it  might  not  come  upon 
them  by  surprise  ;  which  clearly  implies  that  they  should  live  to 
witness  it.  "  And  take  heed  to  yourselves,  lest  at  any  time  your 
hearts  be  overcharged  with  surfeiting,  and  drunkenness,  and  cares 
of  this  life,  and  so  that  day  come  on  you  unawares.  For  as  a 
snare  shall  it  come  on  ail  ihem  that  dvvpU  on  the  face  of  the 
whole  earth.  Watch  ye  therefore,  and  pray  always,  that  ye  may 
be  accounted  worthy  to  escape  all  these  things  that  shall  come  to 
pass,  and  to  stand  before  the  Son  of  man."  (Luke  xxi.  34 — 6.) 
It  would  at  once  astonish  and  amuse  you,  my  auditors,  to  know 
how  erudite  commentators  have  strained  their  learning  and  inge- 
nuity in  order  to  reconcile  these  passages  with  their  pre-conceived 
opinion,  that  the  coming  of  Christ  is  to  ensue  at  the  end  of  tin*. 
Dr.  Clarke  even  carries  his  efforts  at  evasion  so  far  as  to  affirm, 
that  by  "  this  generation,"  Christ  may  have  meant  that  race  of 
people,  viz.,  the  Jews  :  that  they  should  not  become  extinct  as  a 
nation  before  he  should  come  to  judge  the  world  !  But  this  is 
pitiful,  yea  contemptible  :  for — 

5th. — The  same  evangelists  have  recorded  another  declaration 
of  Christ  to  the  same  effect,  and  in  phraseology  which  will  not 
bear  such  an  interpretation  ;  and,  besides,  the  contexts  of  the  dif- 
ferent passages  already  quoted  make  it  clearly  manifest,  that  th© 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  161 

word  generation  was  used  by  the  Saviour  to  denote,  the  people  of 
that  age.  *'  For  these,''''  said  he,  "  be  the  days  of  vengeance,  that 
all  things  that  are  written  may  be  fulfilled  :"  (Luke  xxi.  22.) 
again,  at  the  close  of  his  description  of  Jerusalem's  overthrow, 
he  proceeds  to  tell  that  his  coming  shall  be  "  immediately  after 
the  tribulation  of  those  days;"  (Mat.  xxv.  29.)  and  in  Mark  xiii, 
the  same  is  repeated  in  another  form,  "  But  in  those  days,  after 
that  tribulation,  the  sun  shall  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  of  heaven  shall  fall,  and  the  pow- 
ers that  are  in  heaven  shall  be  shaken  :  and  then  they  shall  see  the 
son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  :"  &c.  (24 — 26.) 
and  his  caution  to  his  disciples  immediately  follows,  implying,  as 
before  remarked,  that  his  coming  was  to  take  place  in  their  day, 
for  they  are  told  to  look  for  their  Lord  ;  "  lest  coming  suddenly  he 
find  yoa  sleeping."  (36.)  And  yet  grave  and  erudite  biblical 
critics  inform  us,  that  (although  eighteen  centuries  are  since 
elapsed)  this  event  is  yet  to  transpire  !  But  we  will  look  at 
other  scriptural  testimonies. 

See,  first,  Mat.  xvi.  "For  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the 
glory  of  his  Father,  with  his  angels;  and  then  he  shall  reward 
every  man  according  to  his  works.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There 
be  some  standing  here  which  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  see 
the  Son  of  man  coming  in  his  kingdom."  (27,  28.)  What  think 
you  now  ?  Did  Christ's  appearance  in  his  glory,  to  reward  and 
punish,  occur  in  that  age  ;  or  are  some  that  were  then  among  his 
auditors  still  living  on  the  earth  ]  To  the  same  purpose  speaks 
Mark,  "  Whosoever  therefore  shall  be  ashamed  of  me,  and  of  my 
words,  in  this  adulterous  and  sinful  generation,  of  him  also  shall 
the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed,  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father,  with  the  holy  angels."  (viii.  38.)  "  And  he  said  unto 
them.  Verily  I  say  unto  you.  That  there  be  some  of  them  that 
stand  here,  which  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they  have  seen  the 
kingdom  of  God  come  with  power."  (ix.  1.)  And  Luke,  "For 
whosoever  shall  be  ashamed  of  me,  and  of  my  words,  of  him 
shall  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed,  when  he  shall  come  in  his 
own  glory,  and  in  his  Father's,  and  of  the  holy  angels.  But  I 
tell  you  of  a  truth.  There  be  some  standing  here,  which  shall  not 
taste  of  death,  till  they  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  (ix.  26,  27.) 
Surely  testimonies  so  emphatic,  and  repeated,  should  be  admitted 

Vol.  I.— o  2 


162  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

by  all  as  sufficient  to  settle  the  question  as  to  the  time  of  Christ's 
coming  :  but  there  are  yet  others  to  be  adduced. 

There  has  ever  been  a  difference  of  opinion  amongst  biblical 
commentators,  as  to  the  date  at  which  the  book  of  Revelation  was 
written  ;  some  placing  it  previous,  and  others  subsequent,  to  the 
great  calamities  which  befel  the  Jewish  people.  To  my  thinking, 
the  book  contains  clear  internal  evidence  that  the  former  is  the 
correct  position  :  for  the  ciiy,  and  temple  are  several  times  allu- 
ded to  as  still  standing,  which  would  not  have  been  the  case  had 
it  been  written  subsequent  to  their  destruction.  Indeed  the  main 
subject  matters  of  the  book  seem  most  evidently  to  be,  the  ruin 
impending  over  the  Jewish  people ;  the  destruction  of  their  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  polity,  and  the  trials  and  eventual  establishment 
of  the  christian  church.  In  the  introduction,  we  are  told  that  the 
object  of  these  revelations  from  God  was,  "  to  show  unto  his  ser- 
vants things  which  must  shortly  come  to  pass.''''  (i.  1.)  The  coming 
of  Christ  in  the  clouds  is  also  mentioned,  (i.  7.)  And,  moreover, 
the  writer  is  commanded,  "  Seal  not  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy 
of  this  book,  for  THE  TIME  IS  AT  HAND  ;"  (xxii.  10.)  to 
which  is  added,  "  He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still :  and  he 
that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still :  and  he  that  is  righteous,  let 
him  be  righteous  still :  &c.  And,  behold,  I  COME  QUICKLY  ; 
and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give  every  man  according  as  his 
work  shall  be."  (11,  12.)  And  it  is  further  added,  •'  He  which 
testifieththese  things  saith,  SURELY  I  COME  QUICKLY." 
(20.)  Here  then  is  additional  evidence  as  to  the  time  of  our 
Lord's  second  coming.  Is  still  more  required  1  More  shall  bo 
furnished. 

This  same  event  is  predicted  by  the  prophet  Malachi,  under  the 
description  of  "the  day  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven,"  (iv.  1.)  and 
"the  great,  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord  ;"  (5.)  and  it  is  declared 
that  Elias  the  prophet  was  to  be  sent  before  its  arrival,  who 
should  "  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and  the 
heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers."  (6.)  The  Jews  under- 
stood thi^  as  pointing  to  the  time  when  Mesiah  should  set  up  his 
kingdom,  and  therefore  settled  it  in  their  minds  that  this  event 
should  be  preceded  by  the  coming  of  Elias  the  prophet.  See  to 
this  point  Mark,  ix.  "  And  they  asked  him,  saying.  Why  say  the 
scribes  that  Elias  must  first  come  ?     And  he  answered  and  told 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  163 

them,  Elias  verily  cometh  first,  and  reslorethall  thin^ ;  and  how 
it  is  written  of  the  Son  of  man,  that  he  must  suffer  many  things, 
and  be  set  at  nought.  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  Elias  is  indeed 
come,  and  they  have  done  unto  him  whatsoever  they  listed,  as  it 
is  written  of  him.'*  (11,  12,  13.)  When  John  the  Baptist's  birth 
was  predicted,  it  was  said,  "  He  shall  go  forth  in  the  power  and 
spirit  of  Elias,  to  turn  the  hearts  of  the  children  to  the  fathers ;" 
&c.  (Luke  i.  17.)  and  in  reference  to  the  self-same  personage 
Christ  says,  "  If  ye  will  receive  it,  this  is  Elias,  which  was  for  to 
come."  (Mat.  xi.  14.)  These  co-relative  texts  afford  us  a  clear 
indication  of  the  time  when  "  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the 
Lord"  should  transpire :  and  in  Acts,  ii.  we  get  some  further  light 
upon  it,  for  Peter  quotes  from  the  prophet  Joel  the  signs  which 
should  precede  "  the  great  and  notable  day  of  the  Lord  ;"  and  he 
declares  that  these  were  actually  then  taking  place.  (16 — 20.)  It 
were  superfluous  to  add  to  this  mass  of  evidence  :  it  would  not 
be  saying  too  much  to  affirm,  that  no  one  scriptural  fact  is  more 
lucidly  set  forth  than  this,  viz.,  that  Christ's  coming  to  judge  the 
nations,  in  the  sense  intended  in  the  text,  was  an  event  close  at 
hand  when  the  language  of  the  text  was  spoken. 

6th. — We  come  now  to  the  question,  (a  complex  question) 
What  are  we  to  understand  by  the  coming  of  Christ — what  were 
its  objects — and  what  were  the  literal  circumstances  ensuent 
upon  it  1  I  answer  directly  :  first,  that  Christ's  coming  is  not  to 
be  understood  as  actual,  or  real ;  but  as  allegorical.  Secondly, 
Its  objects  were  to  punish  the  Jewish  people  for  their  wickedness 
and  obstinacy;  to  abolish  their  ecclesiastical  establishment;  and 
to  establish  a  pure  and  spiritual  church  in  its  stead.  Thirdly,  the 
events  ensuent  upon  that  coming,  were  a  train  of  signal  and  ter- 
rible judgments  upon  the  Jewish  nation,  including  the  entire 
destruction  of  their  temple  ;  their  complete  subjugation  and  dis- 
persion by  the  Roman  power ;  and  their  ejectment  from  the 
church  (frequently  called  kingdom')  of  God  ;  and  the  induction 
of  the  Gentiles  into  that  church,  or  kingdom  in  their  room. 
These  great,  and  momentous  facts,  constitute  the  sum  of  what  is 
figuratively  set  forth  in  the  text.  In  scripture  times  men  (Jews 
especially)  were  wont  to  be  very  lavish  in  their  use  of  hyperbole  ; 
hence  we  find  them  frequently  describing  events,  of  comparatively 
small  consequence,  in  such  terms  as  would  lead  a  person  unac- 


164  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

quainted  with  their  style,  to  imagine  that  something  was  intended 
very  far  beyond  even  the  most  stupendous  occurrences  of  life. 
Christ,  in  the  text,  has  conformed  to  this  usage  of  his  countrymen, 
which  circumstance  has  led  thousands  (including  many  of  piety 
and  learning)  to  suppose  that  it  looks  forward  to  events  beyond 
the  precincts  of  time. 

Now  for  the  proof  of  my  positions,  I  will  first  quote  from  Luke^ 
xxi.  as  these  matters  are  more  distinctly  set  forth  by  him  than  by 
the  other  evangelists.  "  And  when  ye  shall  see  Jerusalem  com- 
passed with  armies,  then  know  that  the  desolation  thereof  is  nigh- 
Then  let  them  which  are  in  Judea  flee  to  the  mountains  ;  and  let 
them  which  are  in  the  midst  of  it  depart  out ;  and  let  not  them 
that  are  in  the  countries  enter  thereinto.  For  these  be  the  days 
of  vengeance,  that  all  things  which  are  written  may  be  fulfilled. 
But  wo  unto  them  that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck, 
in  those  days !  for  there  shall  be  great  distress  in  the  land,  and 
wrath  upon  this  people.  And  they  shall  fall  by  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  and  shall  be  led  away  captive  into  all  nations :  and  Jeru- 
salem shall  be  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles,  until  the  times  of  the 
Gentiles  be  fulfilled.  And  there  shall  be  signs  in  the  sun,  and  in 
the  moon,  and  in  the  stars  ;  and  upon  the  earth  distress  of  nations, 
with  perplexity  ;  the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring  ;  INIen's  hearts 
failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things  which 
are  coming  on  the  earth  :  for  the  powers  of  heaven  shall  be  sha- 
ken. And  then  shall  they  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  a  cloud, 
with  power  and  great  glory.  And  when  these  things  begin  to 
come  to  pass,  then  look  up,  and  lift  up  your  heads  ;  for  your  re- 
demption draweth  nigh.  And  he  spake  unto  them  a  parable; 
Behold  the  fig-tree,  and  all  the  trees  ;  When  they  now  shoot  forth^ 
ye  see  and  know  of  your  own  selves  that  summer  is  now  nigh  at 
hand.  So  likewise  ye,  when  ye  see  these  things  come  to  pass, 
know  ye  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  nigh  at  hand.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  This  generation  shall  not  pass  away  till  all  be  fulfilled.'* 
(20 — 32.)  I  only  ask  of  you,  my  friends,  that  you  will  closely 
scrutinise  this  language  ;  many  an  erudite  scholiast,  with  mind 
preoccupied  with  the  fantasms  of  his  creed,  has  been  sadly 
puzzled  here:  puzzled,  because  he  was  predetermined  to  find  that 
the  language  respects  a  coming  of  Christ  to  judge  men  at  the 
close  of  time  ;  and  as  nothing  of  the  kind  is  even  intimated,  he  has 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  165 

thrown  himself  back  in  his  easy-chair,  stroked  his  gray  wig, 
and  consoled  himself  with  the  conclusion  "  Ha,  ha  !  I  see  now, 
the  passage  has  a  two-fold  meaning  ;  the  one  expressed,  the  other 
understood  ;  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  city  and  temple  is  the 
former,  the  great  judgment  at  the  conclusion  of  time  is  the  latter. 
Yes,  yes  ;  the  one  is  made  the  antetype  of  the  other.  I  see  it 
now;  well,  I  will  so  put  it  down."  And  accordingly,  we  have 
been  over  and  over  again  favored  with  this  assumption,  in  behalf 
of  which  we  cannot  be  pointed  to  one  particle  of  evidence  ! 

Daniel  the  prophet  had  predicted  the  very  events  to  which  our 
text  refers,  (ix.  26,  27.)  "And  after  threescore  and  two  weeks 
shall  Mesiah  be  cut  off,  but  not  for  himself:  and  the  people  of  the 
prince  that  shall  come  shall  destroy  the  city,  and  the  sanctuary  ; 
and  the  end  thereof  shall  he  with  a  flood,  and  unto  the  end  of  the 
war  desolations  are  determined.  And  he  shall  confirm  the  cove- 
nant with  many  for  one  week :  and  in  the  midst  of  the  week  he 
shall  cause  the  sacrifice  and  the  oblation  to  cease,  and  for  the 
overspreading  of  abominations  he  shall  make  it  desolate,  even 
until  the<;onsummation,  and  that  determined  shall  be  poured  upon 
the  desolate."  And  again  in  chapter  xii.  he  represents  Mesiah 
under  the  name  of  Michael,  "  And  at  that  time  shall  Michael 
stand  up,  the  great  prince  which  standeth  for  the  children  of  thy 
people  ;  and  there  shall  be  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was 
since  there  was  a  nation  even  to  that  same  time  :  and  at  that  time 
thy  people  shall  be  delivered,  every  one  that  shall  be  found 
written  in  the  book  :"  (1.)  and  the  prophet  designates  (in  enig- 
matical terms)  the  precise  time  of  these  momentous  transactions, 
*'  And  from  the  time  that  the  daily  sncrijice  shall  be  be  taken  away, 
and  the  abomination  that  maketh  desolate  set  up,  there  shall  be  a 
thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  days."  (11.)  Christ,  in  his 
description  of  these  coming  calamities,  alluded  to,  and  confirms 
what  Daniel  had  said  about  500  years  before.  See  Mat.  xxiv. 
*'  When  ye  therefore  shall  see  the  abomination  of  desolation, 
spoken  of  by  Daniel  the  prophet,  stand  in  the  holy  place,  (whoso 
readeth  let  him  understand,)  Then  let  them  which  be  in  Judea  flee 
into  the  mountains  :  Let  him  which  is  on  the  house-top  not  come 
down  to  take  any  thing  out  of  his  house :  Neither  let  him  which 
is  in  the  field  retyrn  back  to  take  his  clothes.  And  wo  unto  them 
that  are  with  child,  and  to  them  that  give  suck,  in  those  days! 


166  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

But  pray  ye  that  your  flight  be  not  in  the  winter,  neither  on  the 
sabbath-day  :  For  then  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  was  not 
since  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  time,  no,  nor  ever  shall 
be."  (15—21.)  And  as  if  still  more  clearly  to  point  out  the  identity 
of  the  time  of  his  coming,  with  that  of  Jerusalem's  overthrow  by 
the  Roman  armies,  he  immediately  blends  with  his  account  of  the 
former,  an  allusion  to  the  national  ensign  of  the  latter,  i.  e.  the 
figure  of  an  eagle  upon  their  standards.  "  For  as  the  lightning 
Cometh  out  of  the  east  and  shineth  even  unto  the  west ;  so 
shall  also  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  be.  For  wheresoever 
the  carcase  is,  there  will  the  eagles  be  gathered  together."  (27, 28.) 
And  he  then  emphatically  adds,  "  Immediately  after  the  tribula- 
tion of  those  days  shall  the  sun  be  darkened,  and  the  moon  shall 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall  from  heaven,  and  the 
powers  of  the  heavens  shall  be  shaken ;  And  then  shall  appear 
the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man  in  heaven  :  and  then  shall  all  the 
tribes  of  the  earth  mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man 
coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory." 
(29,  30.)     IMMEDIATELY,  &c. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  Jews  were  in  those  days 
regarded  as  God's  peculiar  people ;  they  had,  for  nearly  twenty 
centuries,  maintained  a  peculiar  politico-ecclesiastical  establish- 
ment, which  claimed  Jehovah  himself  as  its  institutor.  This,  in 
the  new  testament,  is  sometimes  alluded  to  under  the  appellation 
of  the  "  kingdom  of  God,"  and  the  Jews  are  termed  the  "  chil- 
dren of  the  kingdom,"  being  by  their  peculiar  religion  isolated 
from  the  other  nations  of  the  earth,  they  held  them  in  contempt, 
termed  them  "  Gentiles,"  and  deemed  themselves  defiled  in  case 
of  personal  communion  with  them.  (John  xviii.  28.  Actsxi.  3.) 
To  this  favored  people,  Christ  for  a  time  confined  his  ministry ; 
he  even  enjoined  his  disciples,  "  Go  not  into  the  way  of  the 
Gentiles,  and  into  any  of  the  cities  of  the  Samaritans  enter  ye  not, 
but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  (Mat.  x. 
5,  6.)  The  Jews  were  considered  as  exclusively  entitled  to  the 
divine  favor,  the  extending  any  share  thereof  to  the  Gentiles  was 
regarded  as  the  taking  the  children's  bread  and  casting  it  to  the 
dogs.  (Mark  vii.  27.)  Such  was  the  order  of  things  in  Christ's 
day,  but  the  time  was  nearly  arrived  which  was  to  witness  its 
reversal,  the  Jews  were  on  the  eve  of  being  ejected  from  the 


POPULAR  DEBA.TE,  NO.  III.  167 

tingdom,  and  the  Gentiles  of  being  inducted  into  it  in  their  stead. 
*'I  will  call  them  my  people  which  were  not  my  people,  and  her 
beloved  which  was  not  beloved ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that 
in  the  place  where  it  was  said  unto  them,  ye  are  not  my  people, 
there  shall  they  be  called  the  children  of  the  living  God."  (Rom. 
ix.  25,  26.)  This  very  prophecy  was  on  the  verge  of  fulfilment; 
hence,  when  a  Roman  centurion,  (captain  of  a  hundred  men,)  ap- 
plied to  Christ,  and  expressed  strong  confidence  in  his  ability  to 
heal  his  servant,  the  saviour  seemed  surprised  at  the  degree  of 
faith  manifested  by  a  mere  heathen,  and  he  took  occasion  to  inti- 
mate the  fact,  that  the  Gentiles  should  soon  be  seen  coming  from 
ihe  north  and  the  south,  the  east  and  the  west,  and  sitting  down  in 
the  kingdom,  or  church  of  God,  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
whilst  they  themselves,  "  the  children  of  the  kingdom,"  (as  he 
elsewhere  says,)  should  be  thrust  out.  (Mat.  viii.  11,  12.  Luke 
xiii.  2S,  29.)  The  patriarchs  and  prophets,  it  seems,  were  con- 
sidered as  having  exercised  an  evangelical  faith  in  Christ's  me- 
sialiship,  and  were  therefore  accounted  members  of  his  church  or 
kingdom,  and  all  who  in  a  true  sense  become  his  disciples  are 
regarded  as  coheritors  with  them  of  the  same  gospel  blessing: 
as  saith  Paul,  "  So  then,  they  that  be  of  faith  ARE  blessed  with 
faithful  Abraham."  (Gal.  iii.  9.) 

This  is  the  Abraham's  bosom,  to  which  the  poor  man  in  the  par- 
able (by  whom  are  personated  the  gentile  nations)  "  was  carried 
by  angels."  The  Greek  word  angelos  signifies  messengers^  or 
agents,  and  as  often  human  messengers  as  spiritual  ;*  to  be  "  car- 

*  The  angels  of  the  seven  churches  in  Asia  Minor,  referred  to  in  the  2nd  and  3rd 
chapters  of  Revelations,  were  the  tninisters  of  those  churches.  The  three  angels 
who  appeared  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xvii.)  are  called  men,  and  such  they  undoubtedly 
were,  for  they  ate  and  drank  with  the  patriarch,  and  washed  their  feet,  agreeably  to 
the  custom  of  the  times.  The  "  angel  of  the  Lord"  that  appesired  to  Cornelius,  is 
also  called  "  a  man."  (Acts  x.)  We  must  not  take  for  granted,  therefore,  when  the 
word  angels  occurs  in  the  scriptures,  that  spiritual  beings  are  always  meant,  although 
Ihey  doubtless  often  are.  "  The  angels  which  kept  not  their  first  estate,"  (Jude 
ver.  6.)  are  usually  (though  without  scriptural  warrant)  understood  as  being  celestial 
beings  who  fell  from  the  realms  of  blessedness,  all  which  is  sheer  fiction.  We  are 
not  justified  in  assuming  that  any  such  event  ever  took  place;  the  bible  nowhere 
declares  it.  The  account  in  Revelations  (xii.)  of  a  "  war  in  lieaven,"  must  not  be 
understood  of  the  world  of  bliss  ;  heaven,  there,  means  the  church,  (as  it  often  else- 
where does.)  In  the  same  chapter  we  are  told  of  a  dragon  in  heaven,  and  of  a 
pregnant  woman,  and  of  her  flight  into  the  wilderness,  and  of  a  serpent  spouting 
out  a  flood  of  water  after  her,  and  of  the  earth  taking  part  with  her  against  the  serpent, 
&c.  Surely  they  must  have  a  marvelous  love  for  the  ridiculous,  who  fancy  these 
facts  to  have  transpired  above  !  and  yet  this  is  prominent  amonsst  the  texts  adduced 
to  support  the  doctrine  concerning  fallen  angels  ;  because  it  happens  to  be  said  that 
the  tail  of  the  dragon  drew  dov/n  a  third  part  of  the  stars  of  heaven  to  the  earth, 
(but  not  to  hell,  observe.)  Tnith  is,  as  before  shov/n,  all  these  things  pertain  to  the 
conflicts  which  the  church  had  to  sustain  with  its  enemies,  in  the  early  days  of  it5 


168  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

ried  by  angels  to  Abraham's  bosom,"  may  therefore  mean,  to  be 
conducted  by  the  ministry  of  Christ's  apostles  or  ministers  into 
the  true  faith  of  Christ.  The  gentiles  might  well  be  likened  to  a 
poor  man,  covered  with  sores,  for  spiritually  considered,  their 
condition  was  deplorable  enough.  By  the  "  rich  man"  is  meant 
the  Jewish  nation,  which  for  centuries  had  abounded  in  all  spir- 
itual privileges,  in  this  sense  "  they  fared  sumptuously  every 
day,"  and,  in  the  persons  of  their  priesthood,  w^ere  literally  clad 
"  in  purple  and  fine  linen."  But  this  people  were  doomed  soon 
to  die  to  all  these  distinctive  privileges,  and  to  lift  up  their  eyes 
in  hades,  (which  literally  means  the  grave,  or  the  unseen  state, 
but  figuratively,  moral  or  civil  degradation,)  in  this  degraded  and 
condemned  state  they  were  to  see  the  gentiles  elevated  to  the 
high  distinction  and  privileges  from  which  they  themselves  had 
fallen,  and  from  this  happy  and  privileged  state  they  were  to  find 
themselves  separated  by  an  impassable  gulf.  What  constituted 
this  great  gulf  we  are  more  than  once  informed  :  viz.,  the  blind- 
ness of  mind,  and  the  obstinate  unbelief,  to  which  that  people 
were  judicially  given  over.  "Therefore  they  could  not  believe, 
because  that  Esaias  said  again,  He  hath  blinded  their  eyes,  and 
hardened  their  heart ;  that  they  should  not  see  with  their  eyes, 
nor  understand  with  their  heart,  and  be  converted,  and  I  should 
heal  them."  (John  xii.  39,  40.)  Paul  also  testifies  to  the  same 
fact.  "  What  then  ?  Israel  hath  not  obtained  that  which  he 
seeketh  for ;  but  the  election  hath  obtained  it,  and  the  rest  were 
blinded  :  (According  as  it  is  written,  God  hath  given  them  the 
spirit  of  slumber,  eyes  that  they  should  not  see,  and  ears  that 
they  should  not  hear)  unto  this  day."  (Rom.  xi.  7,  8.)  Christ 
represents  Abraham  as  saying  in  regard  to  them,  "  If  they  hear 
not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded  though 
one  rose  from  the  dead,"  which  was  literally  true,  for  Christ 
had  actually  raised  one  Lazarus  to  life,  and  they  yet  remained 
as  unbelieving  as  before,  and  they  so  continued  even  after  Christ 
himself  had  risen.  Eighteen  centuries  have  since  elapsed,  and 
the  gulf  seems  as  impassable  as  ever :  ihe  gospel  is  progressively 
subduing  to  itself  the  subjects  of  all  other  religions,  the  gentiles 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  are  flocking  into  Christ's  kingdom, 

eeiahlishment ;  and  also  Xn  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  ecclesiastical  polity  about  the 
same  timo.  The  popular  misconception  of  those  texts  may  be  maiuly  ascribed  to  the 
epic  of  Milton,  wno  was  a  great  admirer  of  mythological  lore. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  169 

but  the  Jews  remain  still  in  outer  darkness :  degraded,  and  op- 
pressed, they  lift  up  their  eyes  in  hades,  being  in  torment,  and  they 
see  the  formerly  despised  gentiles  in  Abraham's  bosom,  to  whom 
they  in  their  spiritual  lifetime  denied  the  crumbs  which  fell  from 
their  table. 

Pass  we  next  to  the  parable  of  the  supper,  which  a  certain 
^ing  made  on  the  occasion  of  his  son's  wedding ;  this  is  clearly 
applicable  to  the  same  events  :  the  Jews  are  the  party  first  invited, 
wl.ic  on  various  grounds  excused  themselves  from  complying ; 
the  servants  were  then  commanded  to  go  into  the  highways  and 
hedges,  and  to  compel  all  they  should  find,  both  bad  and  good, 
into  the  wedding:  these  represent  the  gentiles,  who,  morally 
consilered,  were  poor,  and  maimed,  and  halt,  and  blind.  The 
party  first  invited  are  represented  as  having  made  light  of  the 
invitation,  and  committed  personal  outrage  upon  the  servants 
sent  to  call  them ;  which  refers  to  the  persecutions  of  the  prophets 
and  apostles  by  the  Jewish  people ;  whereupon  the  king  sends 
"  his  armies,"  to  "  destroy  those  murderers  and  burn  up  their  city :" 
which  clearly  implies  that  God  was  soon  about  to  fulfil  the  same 
retribution  upon  the  Jews  by  the  Roman  army.  (Mat.  xxii.  2.)j 

The  parable  of  the  virgins  likewise  represents  the  gospel  in- 
stitution under  the  figure  of  a  wedding  ;  the  coming  of  Christ  to 
establish  his  kingdom  in  the  world,  and  to  minister  judgments  to 
its  enemies,  is  set  forth  in  the  coming  of  the  bridegroom :  this 
should  ensue  at  midnight,  whilst  "  they  all  slumbered  and  slept," 
which  corresponds  with  the  account  Christ  uniformly  gave  of  his 
coming,  that  it  should  "  be  in  an  hour  when  they  looked  not  for 
him."  Paul  notifies  his  brethren  of  the  same  fact.  "  For  your- 
selves know  perfectly,  that  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh  as  a  thief 
in  the  night.  For  when  they  shall  say.  Peace  and  safety,  then 
sudden  destruction  cometh  upon  them,  as  travail  upon  a  woman 
with  child ;  and  they  shall  not  escape.  But  ye,  brethren,  are 
not  in  darkness,  that  that  day  should  overtake  you  as  a  thief." 
(1  Thes.  V.  2 — 4.)  The  wise  virgins  represent  those  who 
looked  for  this  coming,  and,  whilst  the  term  of  grace  lasted, 
prepared  themselves  to  enter  with  Christ  into  the  gospel  gates ; 
the  foolish  virgins  denote  those  who  by  reason  of  a  neglect  of  this 
preparation  were  shut  out,  and  were  doomed  to  share  in  the  ca- 
lamities of  the  time :  the  **  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth,"  the 

Vol.  I._P  No.  8. 


170  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

"  outer  darkness,"  the  famine,  pestilence,  sword,  captivity,  and 
other  evils,  by  which  that  dreadful  era  was  distinguished.  From 
these  evils  the  believing  part  of  that  people  were  saved.  Christ 
repeatedly  declared  that  those  who  should  become  his  disciples 
should  escape  these  troubles,  and  we  have  historic  testimony  that 
they  actually  did  escape  them  :  the  saviour,  however,  said  "  that 
except  those  days  should  be  shortened  there  could  no  flesh  be 
saved  ;"  but  he  adds,  "  but  for  the  elect's  sake  those  days  shall  be 
shortened."  (Mat.  xxiv.  22.)  Peter,  in  reference  to  the  same  pe- 
riod, says,  "  For  the  time  is  come  that  judgment  must  begin  at 
the  house  of  God :  and  if  it  first  begin  at  us,  what  shall  the 
end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of  God  ]  And  if  the 
righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly  and  the  sin- 
ner appear"?"  (1  Pet.  iv.  17,  18.)  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  and  other 
eminent  commentators,  admit  that  this  language  has  especial 
reference  to  the  above  mentioned  events,  and,  indeed,  there  is 
evidence  of  the  fact  on  the  face  of  the  passage.  "  The  time  ia 
come,"&c.,  not  is  coming,  some  thousands  of  years  hence,  as  the 
popular  theology  supposes. 

To  the  same  effect  are  the  parables  of  the  tares  and  the  wheat, 
and  the  net  cast  into  the  sea;  "at  the  end  of  the  world  {ion 
aionion,  end  of  the  age  or  mosaic  dispensation),  the  tares  were  to 
be  gathered  from  amongst  the  wheat,  and  cast  into  a  furnace  of 
fire;  but  the  wheat  itself,  was  to  be  gathered  into  the  master's 
barn ;  at  the  same  time,  the  bad  fishes  in  the  net,  were  to  be  taken 
from  the  good,  and  thrown  away,  whilst  the  good  were  to  he  put 
into  vessels  for  preservation.  (Mat.  xiii.)  It  is  a  common  prac- 
tice to  refer  this  passage  to  the  literal  termination  of  this  world, 
but  such  is  obviously  not  the  scriptural  meaning  of  the  phrase, 
"end  of  the  world,"  it  never  requires  such  an  interpretation,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  invariably  means  the  consummation  of  the  Jewish 
economy.  Paul  calls  the  period  at  which  Christ  died,  "  the  end 
of  the  world  ;"  (Heb.  ix.  26.)  and  he  also  applies  the  same  phrase 
to  the  days  in  which  he  and  his  fellow  apostles  lived.  (1  Cor. 
X.  11.)  The  Jews,  Dr.  Clarke  and  others  inform  us,  were  in 
the  habit  of  dividing  time  into  two  grand  epochs,  viz.  the  mosaic 
age,  and  the  age  of  the  messiah.  Keeping  this  fact  in  mind,  we 
shall  easily  understand  Christ's  meaning  with  regard  to  the  blas- 
phemy against  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  "  shall  not  be  forgiven  in 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  171 

this  world  (or  age),  neither  in  the  world  (or  age)  to  come ;" 
*'but  is  in  danger  of  eternal  damnation."  Literally,  the  damna- 
tion, or  condemnation,  of  the  age ;  referring,  without  doubt,  to  the 
fearful  judgments  then  near  impending  over  those  blasphemers, 
who  imputed  the  miracles  which  Christ  wrought,  by  the  spirit 
of  God,  to  the  influence,  or  agency,  of  Beelzebub.  The  "  furnace 
of  fire,"  mentioned  in  the  parable  of  the  tares,  we  are  not  to  as- 
sume means  the  fancied  infernal  regions ;  the  scriptures,  (which 
are  ever  the  best  expounders  of  themselves)  say  of  God,  "  his 
fire  is  in  Zion,  and  his  furnace  in  Jerusalem  :"  (Isaiah  xxxi.  9.) 
and  Malachi,  as  before  quoted,  designates  the  period  of  these 
very  judgments  as,  "  the  day  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven."  The 
temple,  so  great  and  splendid,  and  the  larger  part  of  the  city, 
were  converted  into  a  mass  of  flame,  and  might  very  properly 
therefore,  in  figurative  language,  be  represented  under  the  figure 
of  "  a  furnace  of  fire."  Thousands  of  the  Jews  perished  in  the 
flames,  and,  according  to  Josephus,  more  than  a  million  perished 
from  different  causes  during  the  siege.  "  Then,"  said  the  saviour, 
"  shall  be  great  tribulation,  such  as  never  was  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  creation  which  God  created,  until  that  self-same 
time,  no,  nor  never  shall  Z>e."   (Mat.  xxiv.  21,  Mark  xiii.  19.) 

The  saviour  contrived  on  one  occasion,  to  draw  a  just  sentence 
«f  condemnation  against  this  people,  out  of  their  own  mouths  : 
Tie  told  them  of  a  certain  man  who  planted  a  vineyard,  and  let  it 
out  to  husbandmen  that  they  might  dress  it;  he  sent  his  servants 
in  due  season  to  demand  his  portion  of  the  vintage :  but  they 
evilly  entreated  the  servants,  beating  some  and  stoning  others, 
(with  which  collate  "  0,  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest 
the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee  ;")  last  of 
all  he  sent  his  son,  and  they  consummated  their  wickedness  by 
plotting  against  his  life  also.  "  When  the  Lord  of  that  vineyard 
Cometh,"  inquired  the  saviour,  *'  what  will  he  do  unto  those  hus- 
bandmen I"  His  auditors,  probably  not  dreaming  of  an  applica- 
tion of  the  case  to  themselves,  replied  "  He  will  miserably  destroy 
those  wicked  men,  and  will  let  out  his  vineyard  unto  other  hus- 
bandmen, which  shall  render  him  the  fruits  in  their  seasons.  Je- 
sus saith  unto  them.  Did  ye  never  read  in  the  scriptures,  The 
stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  the  same  is  become  the  head 
of  the  corner :  this  is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvelous  in 


172  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

our  eyes  1  Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  The  kingdom  of  Go<i 
shall  be  taken  from  you,  and  given  to  a  nation  bringing  forth  the 
fruits  thereof."  (Mat.  xxi.  41 — 43.)  It  is  added,  "  And  when  the 
chief  priests  and  Pharisees  had  heard  his  parables,  they  perceived 
that  he  spake  of  them."  (ib.  45.) 

We  find,  indeed,  that  Jesus  seized  upon  every  fitting  occasion 
for  communicating  these  stupendous  matters  to  his  countrymen, 
not,  to  be  sure,  in  plain  language,  for  they  would  not  have  borne  it, 
he  would  thus  have  enraged  them  against  him,  and  the  catastro- 
phe of  his  death  would  have  been  hastened  before  the  other  great 
objects  of  his  mission  were  fulfilled  :  he  therefore  chose  a  mode 
of  communication  always  popular  with  the  Jews,  and,  indeed, 
with  all  oriental  nations,  which  consisted  in  relating  fictitious 
incidents,  in  which  was  couched  some  important  moral  or  fact,  to 
oe  guessed  out  as  best  it  might,  by  the  party  to  whom  it  applied. 
But  another  reason  must  be  here  acknowledged  why  Christ  re- 
sorted so  much  to  allegory  in  his  discourses  to  the  Jews.  It  was 
God's  design  that  his  son  should  be  rejected  by  that  nation  gen- 
erally, and  that  their  rejection  of  the  gospel  should  be  made  the 
occasion  for  offering  it  to  the  gentiles.  Let  any  one  who  doubts 
this  take  Christ's  own  account  of  the  matter :  "  And  the  disciples 
came,  and  said  unto  him.  Why  speakest  thou  unto  them  in  para- 
bles ?  He  answered  and  said  unto  them.  Because  it  is  given  unto 
you  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  to  them  it 
is  not  given."  (Mat.  xiii.  10, 11.)  The  end  of  God  in  this  mysteri- 
ous business  was,  nevertheless,  merciful — merciful  both  to  the 
receiving  and  to  the  rejecting  party,  as  Paul  very  satisfactorily 
shows.  "  I  say  then,  Have  they  stumbled  that  they  should  fall  ? 
God  forbid  :  but  rather  through  their  fall  salvation  is  come  unto 
the  Gentiles,  for  to  provoke  them  to  jealousy.  Now,  if  the  fall  of 
them  be  the  riches  of  the  world,  and  the  diminishing  of  them  the 
riches  of  the  Gentiles  ;  how  much  more  their  fulness  ]"  (Rom. 
xi.  11,  12.)  And  again,  "  For  if  the  casting  away  of  them  be  the 
reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be,  but 
life  from  the  dead  ?"  (ib.  15.)  Once  more,  "  For  I  would  not, 
brethren,  that  ye  should  be  ignorant  of  this  mystery,  (lest  ye 
should  be  wise  in  your  own  conceits,)  that  blindness  in  part  is 
happened  to  Israel,  until  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles  be  come  in.** 
(ib.  25.)    "  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved.'* 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  173 

The  fact  of  the  opening  of  the  gospel  gates  to  the  gentiles  was 
first  made  known  to  Peter,  in  a  vision  well  adapted  in  its  charac- 
ter to  symbolize  the  event :  he  saw  a  sheet  let  down  from  heaven, 
knit  at  the  four  corners,  and  containing  all  manners  of  living 
things,  and  among  them  many  which  were  accounted  unclean  by 
the  Mosaic  code  :  a  voice  came  to  him,  "  Rise,  Peter,  kill  and 
eat,"  but  he  replied,  "  Not  so.  Lord,  for  I  have  never  eaten  any 
thing  common  or  unclean."  So  inveterate  indeed  were  his 
Jewish  prejudices  that  the  vision  had  to  be  three  times  repeated* 
and  he  three  times  told  not  to  call  any  thing  common  which 
God  had  cleansed,  before  he  could  be  convinced.  It  is  remarka- 
ble in  this  transaction,  that  all  those  creatures,  both  clean  and 
unclean,  are  represented  as  being  let  down  from  heaven,  and 
lifted  up  into  heaven  again  :  which  would  seem  to  imply  the  fact 
(in  several  forms  intimated  in  the  inspired  record)  that  as  all 
originally  came  from  God,  so  all  must  eventually  return  to  him. 
*'  God  hath  shown  me,"  said  Peter,  "  that  I  must  call  no  man 
common  or  unclean;"  and,  accordingly,  he  began  straightway  to 
proclaim  the  way  of  life  to  the  gentiles.  His  christian  brethren 
(being  all  Jews  by  nation)  were  shocked  at  his  liberality  ;  being 
as  yet,  ignorant  of  the  affair  which  brought  it  about :  he  therefore 
rehearsed  the  whole  matter  to  them  from  the  beginning,  telling 
them  how  signally  the  word  had  been  blest  to  Cornelius'  house- 
hold, and  they,  convinced  that  the  hand  of  God  was  in  the  busi- 
ness, rejoiced,  and  glorified  God,  saying,  "  then  hath  God  also 
unto  the  Gentiles  granted  repentance  unto  life."  (Acts  x.)  From 
that  time  forward  the  gentiles'  cities  became  the  principal  theatres 
of  gospel  operation,  and  oh  !  how  the  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all 
people  ran  and  triumphed  !  The  Jews  became  more  rancorous 
than  ever  in  their  opposition  :  not  content  with  rejecting  it  them- 
selves, they  sought  to  obstruct  its  progress  among  the  gentiles; 
they  followed  them  with  persecutions  from  city  to  city,  "  contra- 
dicting and  blaspheming."  "  Then  Paul  and  Barnabas  waxed 
bold,  and  said.  It  was  necessary  that  the  word  of  God  should  first 
have  been  spoken  to  you  :  but  seeing  ye  put  it  from  you,  and 
judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the 
Gentiles  :  For  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded  us,  saying,  I  have  set 
thee  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldst  be  for  salva- 
tion unto  the  ends  of  the  earth.    And  when  the  Gentiles  heard 

Vol.  I.— p  2 


174  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

this,  they  were  glad,  and  glorified  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  and  as 
many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life,  believed.  And  the  word 
of  the  Lord  was  published  throughout  all  the  region.  But  the 
Jews  stirred  up  the  devout  and  honourable  women,  and  the  chief 
men  of  the  city,  and  raised  persecution  against  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas, and  expelled  them  out  of  their  coasts.  But  they  shook  off 
the  dust  of  their  feet  against  them,  and  came  unto  Iconium.  And 
the  disciples  were  filled  with  joy,  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 
(Acts  viii.  46 — 52.)  See  also  to  the  same  effect,  Acts  xxviii.  The 
scene  there  described,  took  place  at  Rome,  and  the  members 
of  a  Jewish  synagogue  in  that  city  were  the  party  addressed. 
"  Go  unto  this  people,  and  say,  Hearing,  ye  shall  hear,  and 
shall  not  understand  ;  and  seeing,  ye  shall  see,  and  not  perceive  : 
For  the  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and  their  ears  are 
dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they  closed  ;  lest  they  should 
see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  understand  with 
their  heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them. 
Be  it  known  therefore  unto  you,  that  the  salvation  of  God  is  sent 
unto  the  Gentiles,  and  that  they  will  hear  it.  And  when  he  had 
said  these  words,  the  Jews  departed,  and  had  great  reasoning 
among  themselves."  (26 — 29.) 

I  flatter  myself  that  the  parables  of  Chist,  in  the  light  of  this 
application  of  them,  are  changed  from  obscure  and  unintelligible 
enigmas,  into  beautiful  and  pertinent  representations  of  fact.  I 
am  persuaded  that  no  one  of  them  was  ever  intended  to  represent 
the  eternal  aifairs  of  mankind,  and  the  popular  attempt  to  apply 
them  in  that  manner,  has  but  served  to  strip  them  of  their  point 
and  beauty. 

Before  I  close  I  will  briefly  answer  the  argument  founded  on 
the  antithesis  in  the  last  verse  of  the  passage  under  consideration. 
"  These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but  the  right- 
eous into  life  eternal."  I  grant  that  the  same  Greek  adjective 
which  qualifies  the  life  of  the  righteous,  also  qualifies  the  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked — what  then  1  must  the  things  thus  contrasted 
necessarily  be  of  the  same  duration  ?  I  could  certainly  produce 
many  scriptural  antitheses  in  which  the  contrasted  terms  are  not 
equivalent  to  each  other  :  neither  will  it  be  safe  to  assume  that 
the  same  adjective  when  applied  to  different  things  in  the  same 
connexion,  must  always  be  allowed  the  same  strength  of  meaning  ; 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  175 

for  by  this  rule  I  could  prove  the  hills  and  mountains  equal  in 
duration  to  the  ways  of  God:  "The  ever/as/mg  mountains  were 
scattered,  \he  perpetual  hills  did  bow,  his  ways  are  everlasting.'*'* 
(Hab.  iii.  6.)  Here  is  the  same  word  occurring  three  times  in  a 
verse,  and  requiring  an  infinite  signification  in  one  instance, 
and  a  limited  meaning  in  the  other  two.  If  it  even  be  allowed, 
however,  that  the  antithetical  terms  in  Matihew  are  of  equal  sig- 
nification, it  will  not  thence  follow  that  the  punishment  was  to  be 
endless,  excepi  it  can  be  proven  that  the  life  was  to  be  so  :  but 
this  will  not  be  undertaken  by  any  one  who  has  observed  the 
new  testament  usage  of  the  phrase  eternal  life .-  this  expression 
does  not  refer  to  the  immortal  existence  of  the  future  state,  but 
the  divine  renovation  of  mind  enjoyed  by  believers  in  the  gos- 
pel. "  This  is  life  eternal,  that  men  may  know  thee,  the  only, 
true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  hast  sent;"  (John  xvii.  2.) 
and  he  that  hath  this  knowledge,  "  HATH  everlasting  life — IS 
PASSED  from  death  unto  life."  (John  iii.  36.)  It  was  pre- 
cisely to  the  state  of  blindness,  ignorance,  and  condemnation,  con- 
trasted with  this  state  of  gospel  life,  that  the  Jewish  rejectors 
of  Christ  were  adjudged.  Now  if  the  everlasting  life  possessed 
by  the  believer  be  no  more  than  an  endless,,  or  an  immortal  exis- 
tence, wherein  is  he  distinguished  from  the  unbeliever,  for  the  lat- 
ter will  also  exist  immortally  ]  It  must  be  obvious,  that  the  term 
eternal,  when  connected  with  life  in  the  scriptures,  has  reference 
to  the  divine  nature  or  quality  of  that  life,  and  not  to  its  duration. 


STRICTURES  ON  THE  FOREGOING. 

My  dear  travellers  to  eternity,  this  is  an  inquiry  of  awful  mag- 
nitude— one  which  ought  to  engage  our  most  serious  consideration. 
I  have  always  regarded  this  portion  of  scripture  as  a  description 
of  the  last  judgment,  in  which  the  fates  of  men  will  be  settled 
for  eternity :  but  tf  s  gentleman  who  preceded  me  has  employed 
much  ingenuitr  and  a  most  fatal  ability  for  wresting  the  scrip- 
tures, for  the  ^>arpnse  of  showing  that  the  passage  before  us  has 
no  such  meaning  •.  to  unravel  and  expose  all  his  ingenious  soph- 
istry surpasses  my  powers,  for  he  has  in  his  argument  so  dexter- 
ously blended  what  is  false  with  what  is  true,  that  it  would 


176  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

task  the  keenest  discrimination  to  analyse  and  exhibit  them  sepa- 
rately. Without  attempting,  therefore,  a  labored  review  of  his 
entire  argument,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the  office  of  pointing 
out  its  principal  defects. 

1st.— He  argued  that  the  separation  spoken  of  in  the  text,  is  a 
separation  of  nations^  not  of  individuals  according  to  moral  classifi- 
cation ;  I  admit  that  a  strict  grammatical  analysis  of  the  lan- 
guage would  favor  this  view ;  but  it  cannot  be  that  Christ  intended 
any  such  meaning,  for  we  do  not  find  whole  nations  to  be  right- 
eous, nor  whole  nations  to  be  wicked,  and  therefore  nations,  as 
such,  are  not  liable  to  reward,  or  punishment;  but  the  good  and 
bad  individuals  in  each  will,  in  the  great  day,  be  dealt  with  accor- 
ding to  their  respective  doings  in  life. 

2nd. — Before  he  can  prove  that  the  "  fire  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels,"  is  a  circumstance  of  time,  he  must  prove  that 
the  devil  and  his  angels  are  inhabitants  of  this  world ;  but  this 
he  cannot  do.  He  tells  us,  to  be  sure,  that  the  devil  means 
simply  an  adversary,  and  that  the  term  angels,  means  messengers 
or  agents,  and  that  both  these  terms  are  applied  frequently  to 
human  beings.  All  this  I  grant ;  but  still  I  find  devils  spoken  of 
in  the  scriptures  in  reference  to  fallen  spiritual  beings,  once 
angels  of  light,  but  now  degraded  from  their  beatified  state — 
their  leader  is  by  the  prophet  Isaiah  called  "  Lucifer,  son  of  the 
morning."  Christ  tells  us  concerning  him,  that  "  he  was  a  mur- 
derer from  the  beginning,  and  abode  not  in  truth."  These 
devils  used  to  possess  men  in  the  days  of  the  saviour,  and  we 
have  accounts  of  their  speaking,  tearing  people,  throwing  them 
into  the  fire,  and  water  :  they  also  entered  into  a  herd  of  swine, 
and  caused  them  to  drown  themselves  in  the  sea.  In  Revelation 
we  are  told  about  a  war  in  heaven  between  the  angelic  and  infer- 
nal hosts ;  and  of  the  latter  being  overcome,  and  chained  down 
in  the  pit  of  perdition.  Yet  universalists  tell  us  that  the  terms 
devil,  Satan,  Beelzebub,  and  the  like,  are  but  figures  of  speech — 
mere  personifications — evil  principles — diseases — afflictions,  &c., 
invested  with  ideal  personality!  I,  on  the  contrary,  with  all 
orthodox  christians,  maintain  that  these  terms  belong  to  a  class  of 
evil  beings ;  once  angels  of  light,  but  now  arrayed  in  deadly 
hostility  against  God  and  the  souls  of  men.  Let  my  opponent 
disprove  this  view  if  he  can. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  177 

Sd. — I  affirm,  that  no  such  coming,  as  is  described  in  the  text, 
has  ever  yet  come  to  pass.  Did  the  saviour  descend  in  clouds 
during  the  lifetime  of  those  who  heard  him  speak  1  Dec?  he  ac- 
tually gather  before  him  all  nations'?  Did  the  stars  fall  from 
heaven  ?  Does  history  furnish  a  record  of  any  such  events  1 
Surely  not ;  the  heavens  and  the  earth  still  endure  as  formerly ; 
we  have  ocular  evidence  that  no  such  events  as  were  to  accom- 
pany the  coming  of  Christ,  have  ever  yet  occurred.  What  follows 
then  ?  It  follows  that  said  coming  is  not  already  past,  but  is  yet 
to  take  place.  Our  friend  must  not  hope  to  argue  us  out  of  our 
eyes  and  ears. 

4th. — I  admit  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  to  be  the  main  theme 
of  Mat.  xxiv,  yet  I  insist  that  it  has  also  a  reference  to  a  general 
judgment  at  the  close  of  time ;  this  will  appear  evident  if  we 
attend  to  the  inquiries  of  the  disciples  at  the  beginning  of  the 
chapter  :  "  And  Jesus  went  out,  and  departed  from  the  temple : 
and  his  disciples  came  to  him,  for  to  show  him  the  buildings  of 
the  temple.  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  See  ye  not  all  these 
things  ?  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  There  shall  not  be  left  here  one 
stone  upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down.  And  as  he 
sat  upon  the  mount  of  Olives,  his  disciples  came  unto  him  pri- 
vately, saying.  Tell  us,  when  shall  these  things  be  ?  and  what 
shall  he  the  sign  of  thy  coming,  and  of  the  end  cf  the  world  ?" 
(1 — 3.)  Here  we  find  questions  relative  to  three  great  events. 
1st. — The  destruction  of  the  temple.  2nd. — The  sign  of  his 
coming  to  judge  the  world  :  and  3rd,  the  end  of  time,  when  said 
coming  shall  actually  take  place.  To  each  of  these  inquiries 
the  chapter  contains  a  distinct  answer.  True,  we  cannot  point  to 
the  precise  line,  or  verse,  where  the  answer  to  one  of  these  ques- 
tions closes,  and  that  to  the  next  in  order  begins  ;  the  transitions 
from  one  to  the  other  are  so  sudden,  and  the  language  applied  to 
all  so  bold  and  so  similar,  that  many  have  been  led  into  the  mistake 
of  supposing,  that  these  events  were  to  happen  simultaneously,  or 
at  least  in  rapid  succession.  Into  this  very  blunder  the  universal- 
ists  have  fallen :  hence  they  tell  us  that  Christ's  second  coming 
has  already  transpired,  and  that  we  of  this  day,  have  no  further 
concern  with  it  than  as  a  matter  of  sacred  history! 

5th. — I  scarcely  know  how  to  approach  the  novel,  (and,  I  will 
own,  ingenious,)  application  of  the  parables,  with  which  we 


178  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALTSM. 

have  been  entertained :  I  acknowledge  it  was  smoothly  and 
plausibly  spun  out ;  I  shall  not  attempt  a  formal  refutation  of  it ; 
it  ought  to  suffice  as  proof  of  its  incorrectness  that  it  is  opposed  to 
seven  eighths  of  all  Christendom,  in  past  and  present  ages.  How- 
ever, as  his  cause  obtains  much  apparent  scriptural  countenance 
from  this  mode  of  applying  these  beautiful  allegories,  I  will 
endeavour  to  maintain  the  old  ground,  by  pointing  out  those  parts 
of  his  attempt  which  were  particularly  lame  and  objectionable. 

And  first  comes  up  the  subject  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus — the 
last  passage  in  the  bible  which  I  should  have  dreamed  of  hearing 
applied  to  favor  universalism !  but  what  will  not  human  ingenuity 
attempt  1  Now  I  will  quash  at  once  my  opponent's  plausible 
use  of  this  text,  by  showing  that  it  is  not  a  parable  at  all,  but  a 
literal  narration  of  fact.  It  is  not  introduced  as  parables  usually 
are — it  is  not  prefaced  with  the  remark,  "  and  he  spake  a  parable 
unto  them  ;"  or  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  unto,"  &c. 
On  the  contrary,  Christ  directly  says,  "  There  was  a  certain  rich 
man."  On  which,  with  Mr.  Wesley,  and  others,  I  argue,  "  there 
was  such  a  person,  or  there  was  not  .•  if  there  was,  then  is  the  pas- 
sage a  plain  recital  of  fact ;  if  there  was  not,  it  follows  that  Christ 
asserted  a  falsehood."  Idefy  my  opponent  to  extricate  himself  from 
this  dilemma  !  Another  thing  deserving  notice  in  this  connexion 
io,  that  Josephus,  in  his  dissertation  concerning  Hades,  (the  hell  to 
which  the  rich  man  went)  describes  it  in  a  manner  extremely 
corroborative  of  the  orthodox  views  concerning  this  terrible  text : 
he  must  be  regarded  as  the  highest  authority  for  Jewish  opinions 
in  the  days  of  the  saviour :  and  according  to  him.  Hades  contained 
the  souls  of  all  the  dead,  both  good  and  bad,  and  is  to  continue 
as  a  receptacle  of  them  until  the  last  judgment;  when  the  good 
will  be  admitted  to  Paradise,  and  the  bad  doomed  to  flames  for 
eternity  :  meanwhile  these  are  now  kept  separate  by  an  impassa- 
ble gulf.  How  exactly  accordant  with  the  saviour's  account  of 
the  post-mortem  condition  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus !  And 
oh!  my  friends,  that  gulf!  that  dreadful  gulf!  which  cuts  off  to 
the  damned  all  hope  of  escape  forever !  Universalism  can  con* 
struct  no  bridge  across  it  which  will  not  crumble  under  a  lost 
spirit's  tread.  Let  me  entreat  you  not  to  rest  your  hopes  on  any 
such  air-built  superstructure ! 

I  notice  next  the  ten  virgins — which  I  admit  is  a  parable,  and 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  179 

also  that  one  of  its  meanings  belongs  to  the  present  time ;  it  relates 
to  Christ's  church  or  kingdom  in  this  world:  but  besides  this, 
there  is  a  higher  and  more  awful  view  to  be  taken  of  it — it  looks 
forward  to  the  coming  of  Christ  in  the  last  and  final  judgment. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  parable  of  the  marriage  supper : 
my  opponent  has  noticed  but  one  of  its  applications ;  he,  more- 
over, has  failed  to  note  a  circumstance  connected  with  it,  of  very 
great  consequence ;  I  allude  to  the  case  of  the  man  "  who  had 
not  on  a  wedding  garment."  Why  was  this  overlooked  1  Did  my 
opponent  find  it  too  hard  for  his  ingenuity  %  "  And  when  the  king 
came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he  saw  there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a 
wedding-garment :  And  he  saith  unto  him.  Friend,  how  camest 
thou  in  hither,  not  having  on  a  wedding-garment  ?  And  he  was 
speechless.  Then  said  the  king  to  the  servants,  Bind  him  hand 
and  foot,  and  take  him  away,  and  cast  him  into  outer  darkness ; 
there  shall  be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  (Mat.  xxii.  11 — 
13.)  From  this  we  learn  the  important  truth,  that  except  we  in 
this  life  attain  a  preparation  for  heaven,  we  shall  have  no  admis- 
sion to  that  blissful  abode  hereafter. 

My  opponent  has  very  plausibly  disposed  of  the  argument  raised 
on  the  fact,  that  the  same  Greek  term  is  employed  to  qualify  both 
the  life  of  the  righteous  and  the  punishment  of  the  wicked ;  but 
unfortunately  for  his  cause,  whilst  his  sophistry  was  employed  in 
disproving  the  endless  duration  of  the  latter,  it  at  the  same  time 
disproved  that  of  the  former.  Eternal  life  must  end  if  eternal 
punishment  shall !  This  one  consequence  of  his  reasoning  is 
sufficient  for  its  refutation  :  he  professes  to  believe  in  endless  hap- 
piness beyond  the  grave ;  I  defy  him  to  bring  forward  any  warrant 
for  it  from  the  scriptures,  in  stronger  or  more  unequivocal  tenn? 
than  are  therein  applied  to  future  punishment. 


REJOINDER. 


I  sincerely  thank  my  friend  for  the  conciseness  and  explicitness 
of  his  objections,  it  shall  not  be  the  fault  of  my  will  if  my  replies 
are  not  equally  concise  and  explicit.  1st. — He  grants  the  gram- 
matical correctness  of  the  criticism  on  the  text,  which  makes 
nations  (not  individuals)  the  parties  arraigned  and  separated  in  the 


180  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNlVERSALlSM. 

judgment  that  it  foretells  ;  yet  he  thinks  Christ  could  not  have  de* 
signed  what  his  language  fairly  means  !  This,  in  effect,  is  to 
accuse  him  of  not  having  known  how  to  express  his  meaning ! 
Nations,  too,  he  tells  us,  are  not  punished,  as  such,  for  their 
wickedness.  He  certainly  has  not  learned  this  from  the  bible,  for 
it  teaches  not  only  that  "  the  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell," 
but  also,  "  and  all  the  nations  that  forget  God."  No-t  the  bible 
alone,  but  all  history  informs  us  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  na- 
tional guilt,  and  that  this  is  sure  to  draw  down  national  punishment. 
2nd. — I  must  prove,  he  thinks,  in  order  to  made  good  my  appli- 
cation of  this  passage,  that  "  the  devil  and  his  angels"  of  which 
it  speaks,  are  not  fallen  spiritual  beings  ;  and  that  the  "  ever- 
lasting fire  prepared"  for  them,  is  not  the  fire  of  a  hell  beyond  the 
bounds  of  earth.  Nay,  I  think  it  does  not  fairly  fall  to  my  part 
to  prove  this  ;  it  is  all  assumed  as  fact  by  popular  theologians,  it 
is  their  business  to  make  it  good  by  substantial  evidence.  As  to 
the  idea  of  lapsed  spirits  from  heaven,  called  devils,  it  is  too 
ridiculous  for  sober  consideration :  my  opponent  must  admit 
that  the  different  terms  so  rendered  often  refer  to  beings  and  things 
of  this  earth :  I  contend  that  they  always  do,  (if  we  may  except 
the  terms  relating  to  demons — a  popular  heathen  superstition, 
which  supposed  that  the  souls  of  deceased  persons  wandered 
about  the  earth,  and  entered  into  men  and  women,  causing  dis- 
ease, madness,  &c. :  the  Jews  in  our  saviour's  time  had  adopted 
this  chimera,)  hence  we  read  of  deaf  devils,  dumb  devils,  luna- 
tic devils,  leprous  devils,  etc.  Seven  devils  were  cast  out  of 
Mary  Magdalene.  One  poor  fellow  who  applied  to  Christ  for 
relief  supposed  himself  possessed  of  a  legion  of  them,  (a  whole 
battalion,)  and  when  these  were  exorcised  and  permitted  to  enter 
into  a  herd  of  pigs,  they  affected  the  pigs  with  a  species  of  mad- 
ness (not  hydrophobia,  certainly)  which  caused  them  to  run  down 
a  declivity  into  the  sea.  Most  usually,  however,  these  terms  are 
used  with  reference  to  human  adversaries.  Christ  once  called 
Judas  a  devil,  and  Peter  he  termed  Satan  :  it  is  therefore  not 
unreasonable  to  understand  "the  devil  and  his  angels"  to  mean 
the  chief  enerny  of  Christ's  gospel,  and  his  agents  or  instruments : 
and  the  "  fire  prepared"  for  them  to  mean,  the  terrible  retributions 
with  which  they  were  soon  to  be  visited.  We  are  told  in  Reve- 
lations of  a  war  in  heaven,  "  Michael  and  his  angels  fought 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  181 

against  the  dragon,  and  the  dragon  fought  and  his  angels.'* 
Blind  indeed  must  be  the  mind,  to  which  it  is  not  evident  from 
the  whole  connexion,  that  "  heaven  "  here  means  the  church,  and 
"  the  dragon  and  his  angels"  the  enemies  of  the  gospel,  acting 
under  some  great  leader  !  for  the  same  account  speaks  of  a  woman 
in  heaven,  who  brought  forth  a  man  child,  and  who  fled  into  the 
wJ'derness  from  the  persecutions  of  the  dragon  (all  this  in  heaven^ 
ml*  d  you  !)  which  vomited  forth  water  after  her,  "  and  the  earth 
helped  the  woman,"  etc.  On  which  highly  figurative  account 
(so  manifestly  relating  to  the  church,  its  conflicts  and  final  tri- 
umph) is  erected  the  edifice  of  monstrous  absurdity  about  a 
pitched  fight,  which  took  place  between  contending  armies  of 
angels  before  time  began  !  That  these  crude  notions  are  even 
yet  common  amongst  Christians  is  evidence  that  the  sacred 
volume  has  been  studied  to  but  little  purpose.* 

3rd. — "  I  affirm,"  quoth  my  opponent,  "  that  no  such  coming 
9S  is  predicted  in  the  text  has  ever  yet  transpired."  Then,  my 
friend,  you  affirm  that  Christ  has  proven  a  false  prophet!  for  have 
I  not  furnished  proof  upon  proof,  that  he  positively  declared  it 
should  take  place  within  that  generation,  and  within  the  lifetime 
of  some  of  his  auditors  ?  Our  friend's  mistake,  however,  arises 
from  the  want  of  an  acquaintance  with  the  style  of  speaking  then 
in  general  use ;  he  understands  every  thing  in  a  gross  or  literal 
sense  ;  and  so,  as  history  relates  nothing  of  the  sun  having  been 
quenched — the  stars  having  fallen — all  nations  having  been  actual- 

*  I  will  give  another  text  often  referred  to,  that  my  readers  may  see  on  what  ques- 
tionable ground  the  popular  doctrine  of  a  devil  is  made  to  stand.  "And  it  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  day  that  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  rest  from  thy  sorrow,  and  from 
thy  fear,  and  from  the  hard  bondage  wherein  thou  wast  made  to  serve,  That  thou 
sjjalt  take  up  this  proverb  against  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  say.  How  hath  the  op- 
pressor ceased!  the  golden  city  ceased  !  The  Lord  hath  broken  the  staff  of  the  wicked, 
and  the  sceptre  of  the  rulers.  He  who  smote  the  people  in  wrath  with  a  continual 
stroke,  he  that  ruled  the  nations  in  anger  is  persecuted,  and  none  hindereth.  The 
whole  earth  is  at  rest,  and  is  quiet :  they  break  forth  into  singing.  Yea,  the  iir-rees 
rejoice  at  thee,  and  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  sat/ing,  Since  thou  art  laid  down,  no 
feller  is  come  up  against  us.  Hell  from  beneath  is  moved  for  thee  to  meet  thee  at 
thy  coming :  it  stirreth  up  the  dead  for  thee,  everi  all  the  chief  ones  of  the  earth  ;  it 
hath  raised  up  from  their  thrones  all  the  kings  of  the  nations.  Ail  they  shall  speak 
and  say  unto  thee,  Art  thou  also  become  weak  as  we  1  an  thou  become  "like  unto  us  } 
Thy  pomp  is  brought  down  to  the  grave,  and  the  noise  of  thy  viols  :  the  worm  is 
spread  under  thee,  and  the  wonns'cover  thee.  How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven,  O 
Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning  !  hoio  art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground,  which  didst 
weaken  the  nations!"  <Tsafah  xiv.  3— 12.)  Here  you  have  it,  reader;  here  is  that 
fallen  angel  that  has  so  lon^  been  a  bu^-bear  in  Christendom :  but  here  we  have  him 
dead  and  buried,  and  therefore  shorn  of  his  power,  as  one  would  naturally  suppose : 
he  is  said,  however,  to  be  capable  of  such  a  variety  of  metamorphoses,  that  it  were 
well  to  keep  a  sharp  look  out  for  him  nevertheless. 

Vol.  I.— Q 


182  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNI  VERBALISM. 

ly  congregated  together  before  some  real  and  visible  judgment* 
seat,  it  is  clear,  he  thinks,  that  all  this  is  yet  to  take  place. 
Nor  is  he  without  company  in  this  error;  many  erudite  theolo- 
gians of  high  title,  and  most  reverend  wig,  have  erred  from  the 
same  cause.  The  sacred  writers  were  much  accustomed  to  the 
use  of  the  figure  called  hyperbole ;  which  consists  in  describing 
a  subject  in  an  exaggerated  manner,  employing  very  bold  im- 
agery. See,  for  example,  Isaiah's  account  of  the  destruction  of 
Babylon  by  the  Medes.  "  Behold,  the  day  of  the  Lord  cometh, 
cruel  both  with  wrath  and  fierce  anger,  to  lay  the  land  desolate ; 
and  he  shall  destroy  the  sinners  thereof  out  of  it.  For  the  stars 
of  heaven,  and  the  constellations  thereof,  shall  not  give  their 
light :  the  sun  shall  be  darkened  in  his  going  forth,  and  the  moon 
shall  not  cause  her  light  to  shine.  And  I  will  punish  the  world 
for  their  evil,  and  the  wicked  for  their  iniquity ;  and  I  will  cause 
the  arrogancy  of  the  proud  to  cease,  and  will  lay  low  the  haugh- 
tiness of  the  terrible.  I  will  make  a  man  more  precious  than  fine 
gold  ;  even  a  man  than  the  golden  wedge  of  Ophir.  Therefore  I 
will  shake  the  heavens,  and  the  earth  shall  remove  out  of  her  place, 
in  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  and  in  the  day  of  his  fierce 
anger.  And  it  shall  be  as  the  chased  roe,  and  as  a  sheep  that  no 
man  takelh  up  ;  they  shall  every  man  turn  to  his  ow^n  people, 
and  flee  every  one  into  his  own  land."  (Isaiah  xiii.  9 — 14.)  This 
is  the  prediction  of  a  mere  temporal  overthrow,  but  how  glow- 
ingly described  !  The  earth  was  to  run  away  like  a  timid  deer 
before  the  hunter  !  Now,  to  employ  my  friend's  mode  of  rea- 
soning here,  I  might  argue  that  the  destruction  of  Babylon  is  an 
event  yet  to  take  place ;  for  the  earth  has  not  yet  so  run  like  a 
frightened  sheep  from  its  orbit,  nor  have  the  luminaries  of  heaven 
been  extinguished.  Truth  is,  that  if  we  adopt  this  sort  of  logic 
we  shall  arrive  at  most  marvelous  and  contradictory  conclusions 
from  different  parts  of  the  scriptures  :  and  we  should  also  be 
forcing  upon  them  a  meaning  which  they  were  never  meant  to 
bear.  Our  friend,  by  consulting  the  several  commentators  upon 
Mat.  xxiv,  and  its  parables,  will  find  that  even  the  most  orthodox 
of  them  have  been  forced  into  concessions  which  favor  my  appli- 
cation. For  example :  Dr.  Clarke,  remarks  that  the  coming  of 
Christ  "  in  his  glory,"  may  mean  his  spiritual  presence  in  the 
preaching,  and  miracles,  by  which  the  gospel  dispensation  was 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  183 

ushered  in ;  his  "  gathering  before  him  all  nations,"  may  mean 
the  assembling  of  the  Jewish  tribes  on  some  festival  occasion,  (as 
was  the  case  on  the  day  of  pentecost ;  and  as  was  also  the  case 
(according  to  Josephus  and  others,)  when  Jerusalem  was  besieged 
by  Titus  Vespasian  :)  his  "  holy  angels,"  may  mean  his  apostles 
and  other  inspired  evangelists ;  "  the  great  sound  of  a  trumpet," 
may  refer  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  by  which  means  the 
"  elect  were  gathered  together,"  or,  in  other  words,  believers 
were  brought  into  his  church  or  kingdom,  etc.  Such  is  a  specimen 
of  concessions  made  by  commentators  opposed  to  myself  on  the 
general  question  between  us,  and  they  are  the  more  to  be  relied 
on  for  that  very  reason. 

4th. — Let  us  now  look  at  the  three  questions  put  to  Christ  by 
his  disciples,  as  he  sat  upon  the  mount  of  Olives.  First.  "  When 
shall  these  things  be?"  What  things'?  Evidently,  those  of 
which  he  had  been  speaking,  and  these,  by  a  reference  to  the  con- 
text, you  will  perceive  were  the  destruction  of  the  city  and  the 
temple.  On  this  point  we  are  agreed.  Proceed  we  then  to  the 
second.  "  And  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy  coming."  What 
coming?  Without  doubt,  his  coming  to  execute  these  judgments 
upon  that  obstinate  people.  Third  :  "  and  of  the  end  of  the  world  ]" 
This,  however,  is  not  properly  a  third  question,  but  merely  a 
member  of  the  second  :  "  the  sign  of  thy  coming  and  of  the  end 
of  the  world]"  (tov  st/avoc)  end  of  the  age,  or  Mosaic  economy: 
for  the  disciples  understood  that  the  destruction  of  the  city  and 
temple  would  close  the  Jewish  dispensation,  and  usher  in  that  of 
the  Mesiah :  hence  they  associate  his  coming  to  execute  this 
destruction  with  the  end  of  the  Jewish  age  or  state.  St.  Mark's 
account  of  the  same  matter  clearly  corroborates  this  view.  "  And 
as  he  wejit  out  of  the  temple,  one  of  his  disciples  saith  unto  him, 
Master,  see  what  manner  of  stones  and  what  buildings  are  here  ! 
And  Jesus  answering,  said  unto  him,  Seest  thou  these  great 
buildings  ?  there  shall  not  be  left  one  stone  upon  another,  that 
shall  not  be  thrown  down.  And  as  he  sat  upon  the  mount  of 
Olives,  over  against  the  temple,  Peter,  and  James,  and  John,  and 
Andrew,  asked  him  privately,  Tell  us,  when  shall  these  things 
be  ?  and  what  shall  he  the  sign  when  all  these  things  shall  be 
fulfilled  r'  (Mark  xiii.  1—4.)  So  also  does  St.  Luke's.  "  And 
ss  some  spake  of  the  temple,  how  it  was  adorned  with  goodly 


184  PRO  AND  CON  OF  TTNIVERSALISM. 

Stones  and  gifts,  he  said,  As  for  these  things  wh.ich  ye  behoM, 
the  days  will  come,  in  the  which  there  shall  no'c  be  left  one  stone 
upon  another,  that  shall  not  be  thrown  down.  And  they  asked 
him,  saying.  Master,  but  when  shall  these  things  be?  and  what 
sign  will  there  be  when  these  things  shall  come  to  pass  1"  (Luke 
xxi.  5—7.)  You  perceive  that  both  these  latter  evangelists  make 
but  two  questions  of  it ;  and  must  not  every  reflecting  reader  be 
satisfied  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  that  these  inquiries  had  no 
sort  of  reference  to  the  close  of  time  1  What  could  put  such  an 
idea  into  their  heads  1  they  had  not  been  taught  by  Moses,  nor 
by  any  of  their  prophets,  that  this  mundane  system  should  come 
to  an  end  :  and  all  the  Jews  believed  that  when  the  then  existing 
ecclesiastical  dynasty  should  terminate,  it  should  be  succeeded 
by  a  most  resplendent  state  of  things  under  their  Mesiah,  which 
(from  all  that  I  can  learn)  was  never  expected  to  come  to  a  pe- 
riod. The  assumption  then  that  the  disciples  questioned  Christ 
respecting  the  end  of  time,  is  wholly  without  rational  warrant, 

5th. — We  will  next  glance  at  my  friend's  objections  to  my 
novel  mode  of  applying  the  parables,  he  thinks  my  error  here  is 
sufficiently  clear  from  the  fact,  that  seven  eighths  of  all  Christendom 
are  against  me.  Martin  Luther  did  not  yield  to  this  argument — 
or,  possibly,  protestantism  had  been  unheard  of  to  this  day — 
nor  did  John  Wesley,  or  methodism  would  not  have  been :  all 
reformers,  both  in  church  and  state — in  law,  medicine,  the  arts; 
are  met  at  the  outset  by  this  argument ;  my  friend  was  therefore 
right  in  not  resting  his  cause  here. 

He  proceeds  to  convince  us  that  the  passage  concerning  the 
rich  man  and  Lazarus  is  a  literal  narrative  !  bless  me  !  then  the 
dead  carry  with  them  to  eternity  their  bodily  organs  !  and,  al- 
though existing  in  an  immaterial  state,  they  are  still  subject  to 
material  influences  !  The  rich  man  "  lifted  up  his  ey«s,"  he  sa«r 
Lazarus  in  "  Abraham's  bosom,^''  he  requested  to  have  him  sent  to 
dip  \i\s  Jin ger  in  water ^  and  therewith  to  cool  his  tongue^  for  the 
supplicant  was  tormented  in  the  Jlames.  All  fact — literal  fact ! 
disembodied  spirits  have  eyes^  and  tongues^  and  bosoms,  and  Jiiv 
gers;  and  the  material  element  oi fire  can  burn  them,  and  of 
water  can  cool  them  !  literal  fact  all !  The  regions  of  the  saved, 
too,  and  of  the  damned,  are  so  adjacent  to  each  other  that  the 
inhabitants  of  each  can  maintain  a  familiar  coloquy  with  those 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  185 

of  the  other !  How  manifestly  allegorical  is  this  whole  account ! 
Its  scene  is  laid  on  the  earth  ;  and  the  dramatis  personse  (although 
they  are  said  to  have  died,  and  one  of  them  to  have  been  buried,) 
are  represented  as  being  still  in  the  body.  My  friend  thinks  the 
orthodox  views  of  this  text  are  confirmed  by  what  is  termed  Jose- 
phus'  dissertation  concerning  Hades  .•  said  dissertation,  however, 
is  a  most  palpable  forgery,  and  gotten  up,  without  doubt,  as  a 
counterpart  to  this  parable;  the  phraseology  is  any  thing  but 
Jewish,  and  it  is  asking  too  much  of  our  credulity  to  require  us 
to  believe  that  Josephus  had  any  hand  in  it.  But  even  allowing 
it  genuine,  what  then  1  Why  then,  hell  is  in  the  interior  of  our 
earth,  and  both  the  good  and  bad  of  all  the  dead  are  there — and 
Lazarus,  when  carried  to  Abraham's  bosom,  was  in  fact  carried, 
to  hell !  According  to  this,  we  may  expect  ere  long,  (should 
Simms'  theory  be  true,  which  holds  the  interior  of  our  globe  to 
be  accessible  at  the  poles,)  that  the  improvements  in  navigation 
will  bring  us  to  be  well  acquainted  with  hell  and  its  inhabitants. 

I  shall  not  waste  time  in  proving  this  passage  to  be  an  allegory  ; 
for  that  were  as  superfluous  as  to  prove  that  a  square  is  not  a 
circle.  Mr.  Wesley's  logic,  by  which  he  would  show  it  to  be  a 
tarrative  of  fact,  would  equally  convert  full  twenty  other  bible 
parables  into  literal  histories:  for  argument's  sake,  I  am  willing 
^o  concede  this  point  to  my  opponent ;  merely  that  he  may  be 
convinced,  that  his  dogma  of  endless  woe  cannot  be  maintained 
flom  this  passage  even  with  this  concession.  I  know  that  the 
main  feature  of  it  on  which  the  argument  for  this  doctrine  is 
made  to  rest,  is  the  account  of  the  gulf — the  impassable  gulf. 
Let  us  then  admit  Hades  to  be  a  local  hell,  either  under,  or  beyond 
the  earth,  as  you  please;  and  let  us  admit  the  gulf  to  be  literally 
such,  i.  e.,  a  deep,  and  rugged  chasm.  You  have  now  gained  a 
hell,  and  one  from  which  there  is  no  chance  of  egress  ;  but  for 
how  long  ■?  Ay !  indeed  ;  this  is  likely  to  prove  a  troublesome 
question  for  the  theory  of  an  endless  infernum  !  for  hades  itself  is 
doomed  to  certain  destruction.  "I  will  ransom  them  from  the 
power  of  hades,  [so  reads  the  septuagint,  the  version  from  which 
Christ  and  his  apostles  were  wont  to  quote,]  I  will  redeem  them 
from  death.  0  death,  I  will  be  thy  plagues  !  0  hades^  I  will 
be  thy  destruction."  (Hosea  xiii.  14.)  When  hell  is  destroyed, 
and  its  subjects  ransomed  from  its  power,  what  purpose  can  the 

Vol.  L— q  2 


186  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

golf  answer  1  I  will  ask  another  question ;  what  is  gained  in 
favor  of  endless  misery  from  the  admission  that  the  parable 
before  us  is  literal  history?  Both  these  questions  are  fairly 
answered   by  the   one   word — NOTHING. 

The  man  without  a  wedding  garment : — who  was  he  ?  somebody 
that  had  stolen  into  heaven  unperceived  through  the  carelessness 
of  the  porter?  It  would  seem  so,  by  my  opponent's  understand- 
ing of  it !  I  should  say  rather  a  Jewish  intruder,  (one  of  the 
class  in  regard  to  whom  the  king  had  said,  "  they  shall  not  taste 
of  my  supper,")  who  sought  to  shelter  himself  from  the  retribu- 
tions which  were  about  to  befall  his  nation,  by  assuming  the  profes- 
sion of— without  the  qualifications  indispensable  to — a  subject  of 
Christ's  kingdom,  or  church.  Oneof  the  same  class  that  Jesus  said 
should  say  unto  him  in  that  day;  "Lord,  thou  hast  eaten  and 
drunk  in  our  presence ;  and  we  have  prophesied  in  thy  name,  and 
in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works,"  &c.  :  but  he  shall 
say  unto  them,  "  Depart  from  me,  I  never  knew  you."  It  must  not 
be  lost  sight  of  that  all  these  things  are  spoken  of  in  reference  to 
the  church  or  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth — their  application  to 
the  future  state  is  not  only  gratuitous,  but  in  its  logical  conse- 
quences supremely  ridiculous. 

The  closing  question  of  my  opponent  is  important.  Does  the 
hope  of  an  endless  hereafter  life  rest  on  no  clearer  scriptural  war- 
rant than  is  urged  in  proof  of  the  eternity  of  punishment  ?  This 
comprises  the  sum  of  his  last  argument.  Oh  !  most  blighting  to 
human  hope  were  the  negative  to  this  question  !  for  I  do  with  my 
whole  soul  believe,  that  the  eternity  of  punishment  has  no  scrip- 
tural warrant  at  all :  aion.  and  its  derivatives,  are  so  equivocal  in 
their  signification,  that  if  no  better  ground  of  hope  were  afforded 
in  regard  to  the  duration  of  the  future  life,  than  what  they  furnish, 
such  hope  would  be  the  next  thing  to  despair  :  happily,  however, 
the  case  is  far  otherwise  ! — for,  1st,  the  subjects  of  the  future 
life  are  to  be  like  unto  the  angels  of  God,  "  neither  do  they  die 
any  more."  (Luke  xx.  36.)  2nd.  They  are  raised  immortal, 
(incapable  of  dying)  incorruptible,  (above  the  power  of  decay) 
and  glorious.  They  are  also  made  alive  in  Christ,  (who  is  said 
to  have  been  made  "  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life  ;"  Heb.  vii. 
16,)  and  to  "  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly  ;"  (1  Cor.  xv.) 
their  vile  body  is  to  be  changed,  and  fashioned  like  unto  Christ*a 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  III.  187 

"  most  glorious  body."  (Phil.  iii.  21.)  3rd.  They  enter  into  a 
glory  in  exchange  for  their  present  light  affliction,  which  far  ex- 
ceeds eternal,  (for  so  is  the  literal  reading)  exceeds  it  to  excess, 
(2  Cor.  iv.  17.)  4th.  Death  is  to  be  abolished,  in  regard  to 
them, "  swallowed  up  in  victory ;"  which  seems  the  strongest 
form  of  assurance  that  their  existence  can  never  cease.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  reasons,  it  must  be  considered  that  we  were  made  to 
the  end  that  we  should  live  eternally,  and  enjoy  our  creator.  In 
this,  then,  is  the  object  of  oar  being  fulfilled  ;  whereas  by  a 
contrary  issue  it  would  be  frustrated :  and,  moreover,  life  must 
be  absolutely  eternal,  having  its  well-spring  in  the  eternal  God. 
On  the  contrary,  suffering  is  a  mere  result  of  the  present  im- 
perfection of  our  nature.  In  short,  the  reasons  are  almost 
endless  which  justify  the  belief  of  a  future  endless  existence  to 
man,  and  they  will  all  apply,  with  others  in  addition,  against  his 
being  subjected  to  an  eternity  of  suffering. 

We  have  now  gone  through  my  friend's  objections,  and  what 
is  their  amount  ?  Their  aggregated  weight  is  but  that  of  a 
feather  against  the  mass  of  testimony  to  which  they  stand  opposed. 
So  shielded  at  all  points  is  my  argument  upon  the  application  of 
this  important  subject,  that  I  might  safely  dispense  with  all  that 
I  have  said  in  its  support,  and  then  decide  the  issue  by  one  single 
text.  If  my  opponent  is  right,  there  is  coming  a  judgment,  the 
calamities  of  which  will  a  million-fold  exceed  all  together  that 
the  sun  has  ever  looked  down  upon  since  it  was  first  struck  into 
existence  ;  whereas,  Christ  says  of  the  time  of  Jerusalem's  de- 
struction, "  Then  shall  he  a  time  of  trouble  such  as  never  was  since 
the  beginning  of  the  creation  until  that  time',  NO,  NOR  EVER 
SHALL  BE  !" 


188  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

POPULAR  DEBATE.— No.  IV. 


ARE  WE  TO  INFER,  FROM  THE  OPPOSITION  ENDURED  BY 
CHRIST  AND  HIS  APOSTLES,  THAT  THEY  TAUGHT  THE 
DOCTRINE  OF  ENDLESS  MISERY  7 

AFFIRMATIVE. 

One  thin^,  at  least,  is  certain,  and  that  is,  that  the  saviour 
taught  doctrines  to  which  wicked  men  were  extremely  averse. 
On  this  point  we  cannot  but  be  agreed.  Was  the  doctrine  of 
endless  punishment  one  of  these  1  It  either  was,  or  he  taught  the 
opposite ;  for  something  relative  to  the  future  states  of  men  he 
unquestionably  did  teach  :  but  that  the  subject-matter  of  his 
preaching  was  not  universalism  is  evident,  from  the  virulent  per- 
secutions which  met  him  at  every  step  :  for  men  would  hardly, 
methinks,  have  persecuted  him,  in  return  for  the  good  news  he 
brought  them,  that  they  were  all  to  go  to  heaven  when  they  died  ! 
Oh,  but  this  would  have  suited  them  exactly  !  they  would  have 
hailed  it  with  acclamations ;  and  instead  of  regarding  the  saviour 
as  their  enemy,  they  would  have  greeted  him  as  their  benefactor. 
That  Christ  was  not  so  received ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  was  oppo- 
sed, vilified,  hated,  scoffed  at,  and  finally  murdered,  is  an  evidence 
irresistible  that  he  did  not  inculcate  universal  salvation. 

There  is  no  doctrine  to  which  the  heart  of  man  is  more  opposed, 
than  that  which  tells  him  he  must  answer  in  a  future  life  for  the 
actions  committed  in  the  present;  especially  when  it  is  added, 
that  the  hell  to  which  his  sins  will  sink  him  will  retain  him 
forever ;  its  fires  prove  as  quenchless  as  his  immortal  spirit,  and 
escape  from  the  aroused  wrath  of  omnipotence  as  impossible  as 
to  get  beyond  the  circumference  of  his  power.  Ah  !  this  is  not 
a  doctrine  to  please  the  carnal  heart ;  it  is  not  adapted  to  quiet 
the  troubled  ocean  of  man's  fears  and  anxieties  about  eternity; 
it  administers  no  opiate  to  the  guilty  conscience :  and  hence,  as 
the  pious  minister  of  Jesus  knows  full  well,  the  world  is  arrayed 
in  deadly  hostility  against  it.  I  am  persuaded  that  nothing  but 
this  could  have  aroused  against  the  saviour  the  rancour  which 
followed  him  all  his  life,  and  at  length  nailed  him  to  the  cross. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  IV.  189 

Christ  foresaw  this  consequence  from  the  preaching  of  his 
gospel ;  and  he  forewarned  his  disciples  against  it.  "  If  the 
world  hate  you,"  said  he,  "  ye  know  that  it  hated  me  bofore  it 
hated  you."  "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation,"  &c.  And 
the  apostles,  accordingly,  were  soon  called  upon  to  verify  the  fact 
that  "  they  that  will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  must  suffer  per- 
secution :"  but  that  it  is  "  through  much  tribulation  we  must 
enter  the  kingdom  of  God."  These  facts  and  general  principles 
can  by  no  means  be  reconciled  with  the  idea  that  Christ  and  his 
apostles  inculcated  universal  salvation. 

Now  it  is  well  known  that  this  doctrine  does  not  meet  with 
opposition  from  the  irreligious  and  the  licentious  :  these  yield  it 
their  hearty  good  wishes  and  open  countenance.  No  ;  it  is  the 
humble  follower  of  Jesus  who  most  abhors  this  fatal  error — the 
man  of  prayer — he  who  has  exercised  an  evangelical  repentance, 
and  obtained  the  pardon  of  his  sins  ;  he  views  universalism  as  a 
dangerous  and  soul-damning  delusion,  and  he  sincerely  deprecates 
its  prevalence.  Whilst  on  the  other  hand  the  doctrine  of  aa 
endless  hell  for  the  finally  impenitent,  finds  as  little  favor  with 
sinners  now  as  formerly.  From  all  which  I  deduce  the  conse- 
quence, that  this  was  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  hit  apostles,  and 
that  to  this  source  principally,  we  must  trace  the  opposition  and 
persecutions  which  they  sustained, 

NEGATIVE. 

The  first  point  to  be  settled  in  this  inquiry  is,  whether  Christ 
and  his  apostles  were  opposed  by  that  portion  of  human  society 
termed  the  wicked^  or  by  that  called  the  pious :  the  determining 
of  this  question  must  necessarily  affect  the  conclusion  of  the 
argument.  It  can  scarcely  be  requisite  to  prcnje  to  you,  my 
hearers,  those  of  you  acquainted  with  the  gospel  history  at  least, 
that  all  the  persecutions  of  the  saviour  came  from  men  who  took 
high  ground  for  sanctity  of  character ;  the  priests  of  the  Jewish 
church — the  scribes,  whose  ofiice  it  was  to  expound  the  law  of 
God  ;  and  the  pharisees,  "  who  trusted  in  themselves  that  they 
were  righteous,  and  despised  others  ;"  these  were  they  from 
whom  came  all  the  opposition  to  the  gospel  in  the  infancy  of  its 
promulgation :  and  from  men  of  like  pretensions,  and  of  a  like 
spirit,  I  may  add,  have  emanated  all  the  religious  persecutions 


190  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

which  have  occurred  since  time  began.  Christ  himself  has,  I 
think,  expressed  the  very  same  sentiment  in  different  language : 
(see  Mat.  xxiii.)  he  charges  the  scribes  and  pharisees  with  being 
guilty  of  "  all  the  righteous  blood  that  had  been  shed  upon  the 
earth,  from  the  blood  of  righteous  Abel,  unto  the  blood  of  Zacha- 
rias,  son  of  Barachias,  whom  they  slew  between  the  temple  and 
the  altar."  (ib.  35.)  By  which  we  undoubtedly  are  to  understand, 
that  all  this  martyr-blood  had  been  spilt  by  the  dark  and  fanatical 
spirit  which  these  classes  so  eminently  displayed. 

As  to  the  common  people,  those  usually  denominated  the  wicked^ 
the  world,  &c.,  they  were  ever  the  friends  of  the  saviour ;  they 
attended  upon  his  preaching  in  throngs — they  followed  him  into 
the  wilderness  far  from  their  villages :  Christ  on  several  occa- 
sions fed  thousands  of  them  together,  which  gives  us  an  idea  of 
the  numbers  by  which  he  was  usually  attended ;  and,  we  are 
directly  informed  that  "  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly  :" 
(Mark  xii.  37.)  but  for  them  he  would  have  fallen  a  victim  to  the 
malice  of  his  foes  before  he  did,  "  but  they  feared  the  people,  lest 
they  should  have  been  stoned."  The  following  passage  gives  us 
a  clear  intimation  as  to  the  state  of  things  in  this  respect.  "  Then 
drew  near  unto  him  all  the  publicans  and  sinners  for  to  hear  him 
And  the  Pharisees  and  scribes  murmured,  saying.  This  man 
receiveth  sinners,  and  eateth  with  them."  (Luke  xv.  1,  2.) 
This  drew  out  of  the  saviour  the  beautiful  parables  of  the  lost 
sheep,  lost  piece  of  money,  and  prodigal  son ;  in  which  he  vin- 
dicates his  attentions  to  those  whom  his  pharisaic  opposers  so 
self-complacently  denominated  sinners. 

Having  settled  the  fact  that  the  opposition  to  the  saviour  pro- 
ceeded mainly  from  the  classes  denominated  the  pious,  and  chiefly 
from  the  straitest  of  them  called  the  pharisees  with  ihe'u  priests  at 
their  head ;  we  may  now  I  think  account  for  that  opposition  on 
different  grounds  from  those  assumed  by  my  opponent.  These 
classes  themselves  believed  in  endless  misery  ;  they  had  bor 
lowed  this  dogma  from  heathen  nations,  for  assuredly  and  by 
consent  of  even  the  highest  orthodox  authorities,  they  had  no 
warrant  for  it  in  their  own  canonized  scriptures ;  it  cannot  be 
rationally  supposed,  then,  that  Christ  excited  their  rancor,  by 
teaching  endless  misery.  No,  no !  that  it  proceeded  from  an  oppo 
site  cause  is  far  more  probable :  Christ  taught  that  God  is  ap 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  IV.  191 

universal  Father,  and  benefactor  to  mankind  :  whereas  they  sup- 
posed him  a  partial  Being,  and  (as  a  matter  of  course)  that  they 
were  the  subjects  of  his  partiality — Christ's  teaching  went  to 
prove  that  even  enemies,  despised  publicans,  and  harlots,  are  com- 
prised within  the  range  of  heavenly  beneficence ;  whereas  they 
would  fain  have  had  it  thought  that  God's  goodness  was  restricted 
to  an  inconsiderable  moiety  of  our  race.  The  extremes  of  north 
and  south  are  not  wider  apart  than  were  the  sentiments  inculcated 
by  the  saviour,  and  those  entertained  by  these  narrow  and  bigoted 
sectarists.  In  view  of  these  facts  we  may  easily  understand 
"What  kind  of  a  world  it  was  against  which  Christ  cautioned  his 
disciples — it  was  the  same  that  had  hated  him — from  which  had 
proceeded  all  his  own  bitter  and  unrelenting  persecutions — it  was, 
in  short,  the  (so  called)  religious  world  :  from  the  same  source 
have  issued  all  the  murders,  tortures,  confiscations,  proscriptions, 
exactions,  &c.,  which,  sanctified  by  godly  pretexts,  have,  in  all 
ages,  and  in  all  climes,  drenched  in  blood  our  groaning  earth : 
the  common  people  have  never  (save  in  the  capacity  of  tools) 
been  engaged  in  this  horrid  business  :  all  history  agrees  in  tracing 
it  to  a  fanatical  spirit  in  religion. 

Neither  is  it  true,  my  friends,  that  the  doctrine  of  universal 
salvation  is  generally  pleasing  to  men :  it  is  indeed  true  that  it  ought 
to  be  so ;  and  it  is  also  true  that  if  men's  hearts  were  less  selfish  and 
less  sophisticated  with  corrupting  creeds,  it  would  be  so  ;  but  it  is 
undeniable  that  the  dogma  of  endless  suffering  is  much  better 
adapted  to  flatter  the  vanity  and  self-love  of  man  than  the  contrary, 
and  hence,  probably,  we  may  account  for  its  more  general  preva- 
lence in  the  world.  This  doctrine  tells  us  there  will  be  an  eternal 
distinction  between  us  and  others  ;  this  pleases  us,  for  we  are  sure 
to  think  the  distinction  will  be  in  our  favor;  it  tells  that  God  loves 
some  and  hates  others  ;  this  pleases  us  also,  for  we  are  sure  to 
think  ourselves  the  party  loved :  it  tells  us  that  some  are  to  go  to 
heaven  at  death  and  some  to  hell ;  and  with  this  likewise  we  are 
suited,  for  we  think  there  ought  to  he  a  hell  for  somebody,  and 
there  are  always  certain  somebodies  whom  we  dislike  heartily 
enough  to  wish  there  ;  but  as  to  ourselves — oh  !  no  danger  in  the 
world  to  ourselves — hell  could  not  have  been  made  for  such 
promising  folk ! 

Doctrines  of  cruelty  have  ever  met  with  a  better  receptioii 


192  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

among  men  than  have  those  of  benevolence ;  for  the  reason  that 
the  mass  of  mankind  are  in  gross  ignorance,  and  their  conception® 
of  the  daily  are  low  and  grovelling  :  when  intelligence  and  re- 
finement become  more  general  in  the  world,  doctrines  of  benevo- 
lence will  be  better  received.  Paul  labored  and  suffered  reproach 
for  exhibiting  God  as  an  universal  saviour:  (1  Tim.  iv.  10.)  and 
the  same  teaching  would  have  ensured  him  a  like  experience  in 
every  subsequent  age  to  the  present  time.  My  opponent  tells  us 
how  opposed  to  the  doctrine  of  an  endless  hell  the  pious  minister 
of  Jesus  finds  the  world  ;  but  the  truth  is  utterly  to  the  contrary. 
I  put  it  to  your  own  observation,  whether  the  opposite  to  this  is 
not  the  fact !  Knew  you  ever  of  a  case  of  persecution  against 
an  individual,  for  his  preaching  an  endless  helH  Never,  surely  ! 
As  already  said,  this  doctrine  is  by  far  too  convenient,  and  too 
well  suited  to  the  vanity  and  selfishness  of  men,  to  be  a  subject 
of  opposition  :  it  is  a  point  which  the  interests  of  all  false  and 
corrupt  religions  will  unite  to  guard,  as  the  main  secret,  and  all- 
potent  engine  of  their  dominion  over  mankind. 

Nor  can  I  allow  to  my  friend's  objection  to  universalism  the 
weight  he  claims  for  it,  that  it  is  generally  disapproved,  and  its 
propagation  deprecated,  by  men  of  prayer.  Possibly  it  is ;  pos- 
sibly too  the  preaching  of  it  by  the  apostle  was  opposed  by  this 
class  of  persons  :  we  know  with  certainty  that  it  was  principally 
such  that  composed  the  number  of  haters  and  crucifiers  of  the 
saviour !  I  should  be  sorry  to  endorse  a  millionth  part  of  the 
doctrines  and  doings  of  praying  men  ;  for  many  and  many  a  dark 
deed  of  crime,  God  knows,  has  sought  to  sanctify  itself  by  prayer. 
The  simple  fact,  therefore,  of  a  doctrine  being  loved  or  hated  by 
praying  men  proves  nothing  either  as  to  its  truth  or  falsity. 

On  the  whole,  then,  I  ask,  how  can  we  rationally  infer  from 
the  opposition  encountered  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  that  they 
taught  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  ?  On  the  contrary,  when 
it  is  considered  that  his  opponents  themselves  believed  this  doc- 
trine, is  not  an  opposite  inference  the  more  rational  1  Ycu,  my 
hearers,  may  decide  these  questions  for  yourselves.  I  pretend  not 
to  say  that  they  were  persecuted  for  the  one  of  these  causes 
or  the  other,  but  only  that  if  for  either,  the  latter  is  the  mora 
probable. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO. V.  193 

POPULAR  DEBATE.— No.  V. 


IS  THE  NOTION  OF  A  GENERAL  JUDGMENT  AFTER  DEATH 
AGREEABLE  TO  THE  SCRIPTURES  AND  REASON  1 

ARGUMENT  IN  THE  AFFIRMATIVE. 

Of  all  the  heresies  that  have  infested  the  Christian  church, 
universalism  is  at  once  the  most  audacious  and  the  most  alarming ; 
it  lays  its  destructive  axe  at  the  root  of  opinions  which  have  ever, 
by  general  suffrage,  been  regarded  as  vital,  and  fundamental,  in 
christian  faith  :  amongst  these  it  is  doubtful  if  any  one  is  more 
venerated,  for  its  antiquity,  and  general  prevalence  in  the  world, 
than  that  which  is  involved  in  the  question  before  us.  Will  there  be 
a  judgment  after  death  ?  Say  no — decide  this  momentous  inquiry 
in  the  negative,  and  you  will  be  secure  of  a  hearty  vote  of  thanks 
from  the  irreligious  and  the  abandoned  of  all  nations,  by  whom, 
we  may  be  sure,  this  doctrine  is  but  little  relished.  Say  no,  and 
the  bible  may  very  well  be  dispensed  with  :  for  its  main  business, 
as  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  prepare  men  against  that  dreadful  assize 
at  which  all  our  actions  in  life  must  undergo  the  severest  scrutiny. 
Ah  !  in  reference  to  this,  how  many  a  dying  wretch  has  disclosed 
the  secrets  of  a  life  of  crime,  which  had  otherwise  gone  down 
with  him  into  the  oblivion  of  the  grave  !  And  how  many  an  one 
at  the  same  awful  juncture,  has  relinquished  his  grasp  upon 
hoards,  which  had  been  accumulated  by  fraud  and  oppressive 
exactions !     Well  doth  the  poet  call  this  the — 

"  Great  day,  for  which  all  other  days  were  made, 

«  *  *  * 

Great  day  of  dread,  decision,  and  despair. 
At  thought  of  thee,  each  sublunary  wish 
Lets  go  its  eager  grasp,  and  drops  the  world, 
And  catches  at  a  single  reed  of  hope 
In  heaven." 

Reason  clearly  suggests  the  necessity  for  a  judgment  of  men  after 
this  life  :  when  we  observe  the  present  dispensations  of  provi- 
dence, we  perceive  that  they  take  place  indifferently  in  regard  to 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked  ;  a  suitable  distinction  is  not  now 
Vol.  L— R  No.  9. 


194  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

maintained  between  these  opposite  classes  :  hence  a  future  dis 
pensalion  is  obviously  necessary  in  order  to  remedy  the  irregulari 
ties  of  the  present.  God  must  vindicate  the  justice  of  his  gov- 
ernment— he  must  display  his  infinite  aversion  to  sin,  and  his 
approval  of  virtue — and  this  he  must  do  before  assembled  worlds. 
By  confining  our  attention  to  the  events  of  time,  we  should  often 
be  templed  to  call  the  justice  of  God  into  question  :  the  cruel, 
and  the  rapacious,  are  allowed  to  trample  under  foot  and  despoil 
the  meek  and  the  upright :  the  poor  man  finds  in  the  law  but  a 
weak  defence  against  the  rich  oppressor  ;  the  innocent  are  often 
subject  to  the  full  rigors  of  legal  vengeance,  whilst  the  guilty  are 
suffered  to  escape  with  impunity.  Who  can  estimate  the  sum  of 
suffering  caused  by  such  men  as  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden, 
Cromwell,  and  Napoleon  1  How  could  Pizarro,  and  Cortes,  be 
adequately  punished  in  life,  for  the  prodigies  of  cruelty  which 
they  perpetrated  in  Mexico,  and  Peru  1  When  Jehovah  looked 
down  from  his  throne  in  heaven  upon  the  unhappy  Montezuma, 
expiring  on  heated  plates  of  iron :  marked  he  not  for  deep  dam- 
nation the  miscreant  who  had  caused  this  suffering  ]  A  single 
mandate,  from  a  single  tyrant,  has  often  whelmed  millions  of 
hearts  in  anguish  ;  think  of  the  horrors  inflicted  within  the  limits? 
of  British-East-India  (if  Burke,  and  Sheridan,  may  be  trustedj 
by  the  tyranny  of  Warren  Hastings  !  "  I'll  swear,"  (said  aa 
unhappy  princess,  whose  husband  had  been  perfidiously  mur- 
dered by  that  tyrant,)  "  if  Hastings  is  not  damned,  his  God 
is  a  black  accomplice  in  his  crimes  !"  It  would  indeed  seem 
so,  if  the  unjust  oppressions  of  time  are  not  to  be  avenged  in 
eternity. 

When  we  look  through  the  scriptures  we  find  them  to  contain, 
1st :  numerous  allusions  to  a  certain  set  time,  denominated  "  the 
day  of  judgment;"  these  allusions  are  an  indirect  proof  of  the 
doctrine  under  examination.  2ndly,  we  find  direct  proofs  to  the 
same  eiffect  in  particular  descriptions  of  that  day. 

"  And  whosoever  shall  not  receive  you,  nor  hear  your  words, 
"when  ye  depart  out  of  that  house  or  city,  shake  off  the  dust  of 
your  feet.  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
the  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than 
that  city."  (Mat.  x.  14,  15.)  "  Then  began  he  to  upbraid  the 
cities  wherein  most  of  his  mighty  works  were  done,  because  they 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO. V.  195 

repented  not.  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin !  woe  unto  thee,  Beth- 
saida!  for  if  the  mighty  works  which  were  done  in  you  had  been 
done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon,  they  would  have  repented  long  ago  ia 
sackcloth  and  ashes.  But  I  say  unto  you,  It  shall  be  more  tolera- 
ble for  Tyre  and  Sidon  at  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  you.  And 
thou,  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  unto  heaven,  shalt  be  brought 
down  to  hell  :  for  if  the  mighty  works,  which  have  been  done  in 
thee,  had  been  done  in  Sodom,  it  would  have  remained  until  this 
day.  But  I  say  unto  you,  That  it  shall  be  more  tolerable  for  the 
land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  thee."  (Mat.  xi. 
20 — 24.)  "  The  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly  out  of 
temptations,  and  to  reserve  the  unjust  unto  the  day  of  judgment 
to  be  punished."  (2  Pet.  ii.  9.)  "  And  the  angels  which  kept 
not  their  first  estate,  but  left  their  own  habitation,  he  hath  re- 
served in  everlasting  chains,  under  darkness,  unto  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  day."  (Jude  6.)  These  are  the  principal 
among  the  indirect  proofs  of  a  day  of  general  judgment :  you  will 
observe  that  it  is  alluded  to  as  a  fixed  and  definite  period — not  as 
a  day ;  but  as  the  day. — Sometimes  it  is  denominated  "  that  day," 
"  the  great  day,"  &c. 

Again,  there  are  passages  in  which  mention  is  made  of  "  the 
judgment  seat  of  Christ,"  and  of  our  having  to  stand  before,  and 
to  give  an  account  thereat.  (Rom.  xiv.  10. — 2  Cor.  v.  10.) 

The  accounts  of  our  Lord's  second  coming  I  shall  not  adduce 
in  this  argument,  although  they  have  been  thought  to  belong  to 
the  same  subject,  but  they  have  been  already  subjected  to  the 
alembic  of  my  opponent's  sophistry,  and  they  turned  out  to  mean 
no  such  thing.     I  pass  them,  then,  and  go  to  the  direct  evidences. 

"  And  the  times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at ;  but  now 
commandeth  all  men  every  where  to  repent ;  Because  he  hath 
appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  he  will  judge  the  world  in  right- 
eousness by  that  man  whom  he  hath  ordained  ;  whereof  he  hath 
given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that  he  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead."  (Acts  xvii.  30,  31.)  Here  is  the  doctrine  fully  asserted  : 
Christ,  ihe  judge — the  world,  the  party — and  an  appointed  day ,  the 
time  :  all  clearly  and  distinctly  revealed. 

Next  see,  2  Peter  iii.  :  "  "Whereby  the  world  that  then  was, 
being  overflowed  with  water,  perished  :  Bnt  the  heavens  and  the 
aarth  which  are  now,  by  the  same  word  are  kept  in  store,  reserved 


196  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment  and  perdition  of  ungodly 
men.  But,  beloved,  be  not  ignorant  of  this  one  thing,  that  one 
day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years 
as  one  day.  The  Lord  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise,  as 
some  men  count  slackness  ;  but  is  long  suffering  to  us-ward,  not 
willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to  re- 
pentance. But  the  day  of  the  Lord  will  come  as  a  thief  in  the 
night ;  in  the  which  the  heavens  shall  pass  away  with  a  great 
noise,  and  the  elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also, 
and  the  works  that  are  therein,  shall  be  burned  up.  Seeing  then 
that  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what  manner  of  persons 
ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness:  Looking 
for  and  hasting  unto  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  wherein  the 
heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  and  the  elements  shall  melt 
with  fervent  heat  ]  Nevertheless  we,  according  to  his  promise, 
look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteous- 
ness." (6 — 13.)  Here  is  a  circumstantial  account  of  an  awful 
event,  or  rather  train  of  events.  I  hope  my  opponent  will  not 
attempt  to  spiritualise  it,  and  reduce  it  to  a  nonentity. 

Pass  we  now  to  2  Thes.  i :  "  Seeing  it  is  a  righteous  thing 
with  God  to  recompense  tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you ; 
And  to  you  who  are  troubled,  rest  with  us,  when  the  Lord  Jesus 
shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels.  In  flaming 
fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey 
not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  Who  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
from  the  glory  of  his  power ;  when  he  shall  come  to  be  glorified 
in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  believe  (because 
our  testimony  among  you  was  believed)  in  that  day."  (6 — 10.) 
Could  a  general  judgment,  and  one  too,  which  shall  decide  the 
fates  of  the  parties  for  eternity,  be  more  decisively  revealed  than  it 
here  is  1  Christ  descends— he  descends  from  heaven— he  descends 
in  flames — he  descends  to  avenge  himself  upon  the  enemies  of  his 
gospel— and  that  vengeance,  what  is  it  ?  Destruction,  total,  per- 
petual, irremediable. 

I  will  adduce  two  other  testimonies,  which  I  confess  to  be  highly 
figurative,  but  which,  nevertheless,  without  doubt,  refer  to  the 
same  stupendous  transactions:  the  first  is  in  Daniel  vii.  "I 
beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and  the  Ancient  of  days  did 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  197 

sit,  whose  garment  was  white  as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head 
like  the  pure  wool  :  his  throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his 
wheels  as  burning  fire.  A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth 
from  before  him :  thousand  thousands  ministered  unto  him,  and 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand  stood  before  him :  the  judgment 
was  set,  and  the  books  were  opened."  (9,  10.)  The  other  is  in 
Rev.  XX.  "  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that  sat  on 
it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away  ;  and 
there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  And  I  saw  the  dead,  small 
and  great,  stand  before  God :  and  the  books  were  opened ;  and 
another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life  :  and  the  dead 
were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written  in  the  books, 
according  to  their  works.  And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead  which 
were  in  it;  and  death  and  hell  delivered  up  the  dead  which 
were  in  them  :  and  they  were  judged  every  man  according  to  their 
works.  And  death  and  hell  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  This 
■is  the  second  death.  And  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in 
the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."  (11 — 15.)  These 
passages  are  marked  with  much  sublimity  of  thought,  and  grandeur 
of  imagery  ;  but  as  they  are  dark  and  enigmatical,  I  do  not  lean 
upon  them  with  a  strong  reliance. 

That  Paul  taught  the  doctrine  of  a  judgment  after  death  is  man- 
ifest :  we  find  it  distinctly  asserted  in  his  letter  to  the  Hebrews. 
*'  It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and  after  this  the  judgment." 
(Heb.  ix.  27.)  And  we  are  informed  in  the  book  of  Acts,  that 
"  as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to 
come,  Felix  trembled."  (Acts  xxiv.  25.) 

I  am  curious  to  know  how  my  opponent  will  attempt  to  fritter 
away  all  this  testimony :  not  only  how  he  will  meet  the  argu- 
ment from  the  scripture,  but  also  from  the  reason  and  necessity 
of  things.  There  must  be  a  judgment  after  death — all  nations 
have  believed  in  it,  and,  as  already  remarked,  it  is  imperatively 
called  for  by  the  inequalities  in  the  present  dispensations  of  provi- 
dence :  evil  men  look  forward  to  it  with  fear  and  trembling;  but 
the  righteous  most  earnestly  desire  its  coming :  it  will  be  to  them 
a  day  of  deliverance,  of  vindication,  and  of  recompense  for  all 
their  sufferings  and  trials  in  time.  They  shall  also  see  their  de- 
sire upon  their  persecutors,  and  shall  have  no  longer  occasion  to 
exclaim  with  the  souls  of  the  martyrs,  as  described  in  Revelation, 

Voj,.  I.— R  2 


198  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

"  How  long,  0  Lord,  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and  avenge 
our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  T'  (Rev.  vi.  10.) 

In  conclusion  I  remark,  that  if  there  be  no  judgment  after  death, 
then  the  saviour's  momentous  question,  relative  to  the  worth  of  the 
soul,  is  a  grave  burlesque :  nothing  more.  "  What  shall  it  profit 
a  man,"  he  asks,  "  if  he  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own 
soul,  or  what  shall  he  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?"  And  what 
renders  this  question  more  awfully  momentous  is,  that  it  is  pro- 
pounded in  immediate  connexion  with  the  declaration,  "  For  the 
Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  with  the  holy 
angels,  and  then  shall  he  reward  every  man  according  to  his 
works."  (Mat.  xvi.  27.) 

ARGUMENT  IN  THE  NEGATIVE. 

It  may  seem  an  act  of  great  temerity  on  my  part,  my  auditors, 
to  attempt  maintaining  the  negative  of  this  question  against  such 
an  array  of  argument,  and  evidence,  as  has  been  adduced  on  the 
other  side  :  more  especially  as  your  education,  and  long  habits 
of  thinking,  upon  this  subject,  must  necessarily  bias  your  minds 
against  the  object  of  that  attempt;  nevertheless,  a  firm  convic* 
tion  that  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment  after  death  is  a  mere 
bug-bear,  without  any  real  countenance  from  reason  or  the  bible ; 
and  injurious  in  its  influences  upon  mankind,  imposes  upon  me 
the  duty  of  undertaking  its  refutation  :  give  me  but  your  candid 
attention  and  I  can  promise  myself  success. 

1st. — You  were  told  that  the  wicked  do  not  relish  this  doctrine. 
Perhaps  not;  but  I  know  of  no  particular  reasons  why  they 
should  object  to  it.  On  the  contrary,  I  should  think  that  they  find 
it  sufiiciently  convenient ;  it  puts  off  the  day  of  reckoning  to  a 
conveniently  distant  time,  and  represents  its  decisions  as  sufiiciently 
uncertain;  and  this  tends  to  set  their  consciences  well  at  ease  until 
the  moment  of  danger  is  conceived  to  have  nearly  arrived  ;  then 
comes  in  the  expedient  of  repentance,  just  in  season  to  ward  the 
long-suspended  stroke  of  justice  !  The  anecdote  of  the  Irishman 
who  stole"  a  pig,  (whether  truth  or  fiction)  well  illustrates  this 
point :  when  told  he  would  have  to  answer  for  it  at  the  day  of 
judgment,  he  replied,  "  Och  !  but  had  I  known  you  would  wait 
80  long,  I  would  have  taken  two  of  them  !" 

It  is  true,  as  my  opponent  remarked,  that  by  the  terrors  of  that 


POPULAR  DEBATE, NO. V.  199 

expected  day,  the  dying  sinner  has  often  been  induced  to  "  make  a 
clean  breast,"  by  confession  ;  and  that  ill-gotten  hoards  have  been 
wrenched  from  the  hands  of  avarice  and  extortion — but  w^hat  then  1 
Have  the  robbed  and  the  oppressed  been  benefited  by  these  fits 
of  remorse  ?  No  such  thing ;  they  have  served  for  the  founding 
of  churches,  or  of  convents,  or  for  the  enriching  of  ecclesiastics, 
but  rarely  indeed  have  they  brought  reparation  to  the  injured.  On 
the  other  hand,  v^^hat  a  fearful  engine  of  mischief  has  this  doctrine 
proved  in  the  hands  of  wily  priests  !  with  what  terrific  phantoms 
has  it  peopled  the  dreaded  future  !  And  how  dense  a  darkness 
has  it  shed  upon  man's  dying  hour  !  Often,  and  often,  by  its 
means,  has  the  ghostly  counsellor  at  the  bed  of  death,  wrung 
from  the  fears  of  the  dying  man  the  savings  of  a  life  of  industry, 
which  ought  to  have  gone  to  his  widow  and  her  orphan  children. 
Indeed,  with  such  frequency  has  this  case  transpired,  that  it  has 
been  found  necessary  by  enlightened  legislators,  to  make,  by 
statute,  bequests  of  this  nature  invalid.  Wicked  men  averse  to 
the  doctrine  of  a  judgment  after  death!  Not  they  indeed  ;  they 
are  prone  enough  to  "put  the  evil  day  afar  off:"  the  cheek  of  the 
hardy  mariner  is  blanched  with  dismay,  and  the  prayer  of  agony 
quavers  on  his  lips,  when  his  storm  tossed  vessel  seems  on  the 
point  of  being  ingulfed  in  the  troubled  element  beneath  him  :  but 
the  danger  passed,  he  laughs  at  his  fears,  and  blasphemes  the 
name  of  God  without  compunction. 

2nd. — If  there  is  to  be  no  judgment  after  death,  my  friend 
thinks,  the  bible  may  be  dispensed  with !  its  main  business  being, 
as  he  thinks,  to  prepare  men  against  that  event !  There  is  a  mar- 
velous issue  between  us,  then,  upon  this  point.  I  hold  the  main 
business  of  the  bible  to  be  the  preparing  us  for  this  life — its  duties, 
and  sufferings — and  to  reconcile  us  to  its  sorrows  by  revealing  the 
joys  that  await  us  in  another — it  tells  of  God,  and  of  ourselves — 
of  our  relations  to  him  and  to  each  other — and  it  shows  us  that  a 
conformity  to  the  obligations  which  these  relations  impose,  presents 
the  surest  prospect  of  happiness.  How  many  of  mankind,  I  pray, 
are  prepared  by  the  bible  against  a  future  day  of  judgment  ? 

3rd. — He  quotes  us  the  poet,  who  in  a  strain  of  extravagance 
which  prose  would  never  countenance,  calls  the  fancied  era  of  the 
judgment,  the — 

"  Great  day,  for  which  all  other  days  were  made." 


200  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM 

I  must  think  that  the  Creator  was  poorly  employed  if  he  made 
all  other  days  for  the  sake  of  such  a  season  of  ruin,  confusion, 
madness  and  misery,  as  we  are  apt  to  imagine  that  day  of  judg- 
ment will  prove  I  It  is  little  short  of  blasphemy  to  charge  him 
with  so  flagrant  an  outrage  upon  justice  and  benevolence.  Truth 
is,  that  however  this  doctrine  may  serve  to  furnish  images  of  ter- 
ror" and  grandeur  to  the  bard,  it  will  illy  endure  the  investigation 
of  sober  inquiry. 

4th. — The  main  argument  from  reason  for  a  future  judgment,  is, 
that  providence  is  not  jxmt  in  its  present  dispensations !  Such  is 
really  the  substance  of  the  argument!  It  is  pretended  that  a 
suitable  distinction  is  not  maintained  betwixt  the  righteous  and 
the  wicked.  This  is  a  grave  charge  against  the  Governor  of  the 
universe;  and,  if  true,  I  should  doubt  his  disposition  to  admin- 
ister its  affairs  at  any  future  lime  more  justly  than  he  does  at  pre- 
sent. Convince  me  that  ray  maker  can  do  what  is  wrong,  or  omit 
to  do  what  is  right,  at  one  time,  and  I  shall  at  once  despair  of  his 
doing  otherwise  at  any  time  !  Now  the  nature  of  the  case  would 
be  materially  altered,  if  it  could  be  made  to  appear,  that  from 
these  present  irregularities  some  great  and  glorious  result 
should  ensue — a  result  consistent  with  the  eventual  good  of  the 
entire  mass  of  his  creatures ;  but  a  mal-administration  of  affairs 
which  shall  issue  so  disastrously  to  millions  of  millions, 
cannot  by  any  sophistry  be  vindicated;  nor  can  we  ever  ration- 
ally expect  the  interests  of  the  governed  to  be  safer  in  the  same 
hands. 

But  tell  me  now,  ye  who  can  look  over  the  world  with  an  eye 
of  candid  observation,  are  not  the  distinctions  of  condition  betwixt 
the  good  and  the  bad,  as  broad  as  are  the  distinctions  of  character  ? 
You  must,  at  least,  acknowledge  that  the  latter  are  not  as  wide 
as  the  difference  between  unending  bliss  and  unending  woe — 
you  must  even  allow,  that  if  it  were  attempted  to  sever  these 
classes  from  each  other,  it  would  be  difficult  to  determine  in 
regard  to  an  immense  majority  of  mankind,  whether  to  rank  them 
amongst  the  righteous  or  the  wicked,  so  nearly  balanced  are  their 
good  and  evil  traits  of  character !  Now,  in  regard  to  these,  what 
shall  be  done?  Shall  we,  whilst  we  allow  them  no  reward  for 
their  good  qualities,  eternally  damn  them  for  their  evil  ones? 
This  would  seem  a  very  unjust  measure;  and  yet  it  is  the  very 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  201 

measure  which  the  common  doctrine  of  a  judgment  after  death 
contemplates  ! 

We  see  not,  as  sees  the  all-seeing  God  :  he  saw  Montezuma, 
for  example,  suffering  under  the  cruelties  of  Cortez :  perhaps 
also  he  had  oft  seen  others  suffering  under  the  cruelties  of  Mon- 
tezuma, and  in  that  case  the  sulTerings  of  the  latter  were  but  a 
just  measure  of  retribution.  "  But  Adoni-bezek  fled  :  and  they 
pursued  after  him,  and  caught  him,  and  cut  off  his  thumbs  and 
his  great  toes.  And  Adoni-bezek  said,  Threescore  and  ten  kings, 
having  their  thumbs  and  their  great  toes  cut  off,  gathered  their 
meat  under  my  table:  as  I  have  done,  so  God  hath  requited 
me.  And  they  brought  him  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  he  died." 
(Judges  i.  6,  7.)  Yet  we  are  told  that  men  are  not  judged  and 
punished  here  ;  for  if  here,  why  again  hereafter  1 

And  may  not  Charles  XII.  Cromwell,  and  Napoleon,  have  been 
mere  scourges  in  the  hands  of  providence  ?  Many  wise  and  good 
men  have  so  regarded  them,  and  with  the  evil  they  each  did,  much 
good  was  accomplished  also.  Governor  Hastings  may  have  been 
a  tyrant  or  not:  he  has  been  differently,  oppositely,  represented. 
Supposing  he  was,  and  that  God  shall  eternally  damn  him,  agreea- 
bly to  the  Indian  princess'  requirement ;  will  his  damnation 
repair  the  wrongs  he  did  in  life  ?  or  will  its  only  purpose  be 
revenge  7  But  then,  another  difficulty  occurs  ;  agreeably  to  the 
doctrine  under  review,  the  victims  of  the  tyrant  are  as  liable  to 
unending  woe  as  is  the  tyrant  himself!  Still  another,  after  des- 
patching his  victims  to  hell  the  latter  may  have  himself  repented 
and  gone  to  heaven  !  I  see  not,  then,  if  even  there  shall  be  a 
judgment  after  death,  how  it  is  to  repair  the  evils  of  life,  or  make 
amends  for  the  mal-administrations  of  providence  during  time! 

5th. — It  is  commonly  supposed  that  we  go  at  death  immediately 
to  heaven  or  to  hell  :  this  being  the  case,  where  is  the  necessity 
for  a  general  judgement?  Is  it  to  enable  the  Omniscient  Being 
to  review  his  former  decisions  ?  May  he  have  committed  mis- 
takes which  this  rejudication  will  enable  him  to  correct?  Or 
is  this  first  commitment  to  the  prison  of  the  universe  upon  a 
suspicion  of  guilt  merely,  and  the  business  of  the  judgment  to 
refute  or  confirm  that  suspicion  ?  A  more  solemn  mockery  than 
this  same  fancied  judgment  was  never  conceived.  A  pageant, 
suitable  enough  as  a  subject  of  poetry,  or  of  popular  declamation, 


202  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

but  how  absurd  ;  yea  ridiculous,  (sublimely  so,  however,)  when 
the  infinite  Jehovah  is  represented  as  collecting  around  him  the 
people  of  a  hundred  centuries,  that,  either  he  may  correct  his 
mistakes,  or  convince  them  that  he  has  made  none  !  Really,  for 
plain  and  honest  prose  this  is  most  insufferable  stuff! 

6th. — But  let  us  to  the  scriptures  and  carefully  attend  to  their 
testimony  upon  this  head.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  they  speak 
of  several  days  of  judgment,  and  hours  of  judgment  also.  It  was 
the  day  of  judgment  to  the  old  world  when  its  destruction  came 
upon  it.  It  was  Sodom's  day  of  judgment  when  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire  from  heaven.  Peter  evidently  speaks  of  the  time  of  the 
latter  visitation  under  this  appellation,  for  he  adduces  the  facts 
of  Lot's  deliverance,  and  the  overthrow  of  the  Sodomites,  as 
an  evidence,  "  that  the  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly 
out  of  temptation,  and  to  reserve  the  unjust  unto  the  day  of  judg- 
ment to  be  punished."  (2  Pet.  ii.  9.)  And  the  same  writer 
speaks  of  a  day  of  judgment  which  was  at  hand  when  he  sent  his 
epistles  to  the  churches  ;  "  for,"  he  saith,  "  the  time  is  come  that 
judgment  must  begin  at  the  house  of  God,  and  if  it  first  begin  at 
us,  what  shall  the  end  be  of  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel  of 
God."  (1  Pet.  iv.  17.)  Even  Dr-  Clarkft  admits  this  as  referring 
to  the  retributions  then  impending  over  the  Jewish  people. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  notice  well  the  following  passage,  which 
identifies  the  time  of  the  judgment  with  that  of  the  introduction 
of  Christianity.  "  And  I  saw  another  angel  fly  in  the  midst  of 
heaven,  having  the  everlasting  gospel  to  preach  unto  them  that 
dwell  on  the  earth,  and  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue, 
and  people.  Saying  with  a  loud  voice.  Fear  God,  and  give  glory 
to  him,  for  the  hour  of  his  judgment  is  come :  and  worship  him 
who  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  fountains  of 
waters."  (Rev.  xiv.    6,  7.) 

My  friend's  indirect  proofs  of  a  general  judgment  require,  I 
think,  but  a  glance,  in  order  to  their  turning  out  no  proofs  at  all. 
The  first  of  them  is  a  threat  against  such  cities  as  should  refuse 
to  receive  the  apostles  of  Christ."  "It  shall  be  more  tolerable 
for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  that 
city."  Is  it  not  too  manifest  for  argument,  that  nothing  more  is 
here  meant  than  that  in  the  time  of  visitation,  it  should  go  harder 
with  that  city  than  it  had  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  ?     Th& 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  203 

latter  were  destroyed  at  once  ;  whereas  the  destruction  of  the 
former  should  be  protracted  and  complicated  :  it  should  be  be- 
sieged, its  supplies  of  food  and  water  cut  off;  famine  and  pesti- 
lence should  stalk  within  its  walls,  and  an  unsparing  foe  should 
direct  against  it  the  missiles  of  destruction  from  without.  The 
next  passage  contains  a  denunciation  against  Chorazin,  Bethsaida, 
and  Capernaum  ;  which  places  had  been  eminently  the  theatres  of 
his  teaching  and  miracles.  They  are  threatened  with  a  severer 
fate  than  had  overtaken  Tyre  and  Sidon :  the  period  at  which  this 
fate  should  come  upon  them  is  termed  "  the  day  of  judgment." 
It  must  be  evident  that  this  judgment  was  temporal  from  the  fact 
of  its  being  compared  with  that  which  had  befallen  other  cities  ; 
but  the  punishment  of  the  places  which  had  received,  without 
accepting,  the  offers  of  the  gospel,  was  to  be  greater  than  that  of 
the  others,  because  of  their  having  sinned  against  greater  light : 
but  still  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  Christ  brought  into  comparison 
things  between  which  there  could  be  no  proportion,  and,  therefore, 
as  the  lesser  judgment  was  temporal,  so  also  should  the  greater 
be. 

The  only  indirect  proof  yet  remaining  is  Jude,  6.  I  confess  I 
am  not  clear  as  to  its  meaning,  but  still  I  am  even  with  my  oppo- 
nent in  this  respect,  for  he  can  know  no  more  about  it  than  I  do. 
It  is  usually  assumed  that  the  angels  here  mentioned  are  spiritual 
beings — that  the  habitations  they  left  were  seats,  or  mansions,  in 
heaven;  and  that  "  the  judgment  of  the  great  day*'  means  the 
event  contended  for  in  the  affirmative  of  this  argument.  These 
airy  assumptions  have,  in  human  creeds,  assumed  the  form  and 
substantiality  of  facts  !  Such  occasional  obscurities  are  fortu- 
nate God-sends  for  the  popular  theology,  they  serve  it  as  retreat- 
ing places  from  the  rapidly  spreading  light  of  true  biblical  phi- 
losophy. 

Before  passing  on  to  my  opponent's  direct  proofs,  I  will  briefly 
notice  the  argument  founded  on  the  definite  prefix,  the,  (instead 
of  the  indefinite,  a,)  as  connected  with  this  subject.  Unfortu- 
nately for  this  argument,  it  has  no  foundation  in  the  original 
Greek :  there  the  article  is  en,  indefinite ;  not  ho,  definite  :  "  en 
hemera  kriseos,''^  a  day  of  judgment:  this  is  almost  uniformly  the 
form  of  the  phrase,  and  this  materially  alters  the  face  of  the 
argument.    And  even  were  the  form  of  the  phrase  as  my  oppo- 


204  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

nent  represents  it,  should  we  then  be  justified  in  assuming,  that 
the  scriptures  recognise  but  one  day  of  judgment?  we  might, 
indeed,  if  there  were  not  numerous  testimonies  to  the  contrary ; 
but  to  do  so  in  the  face  of  these  would  seem  to  imply  a  strange 
indifference  to  bible  authority.  Every  day  is,  in  some  sense,  a 
day  of  judgment,  for  all  God's  ways  are  said  to  be  judgment. 
(Dan.  iv.  37.)  He  "is  known  by  the  judgment  he  ea?ecu/ef A." 
(Psl.  viii.  16.)  "Every  morning  doth  he  bring  his  judgment  to 
light."  (Zeph.  iii.  5.)  But  times  of  signal  retribution  upon  a 
particular  place  or  people,  are  more  especially  designated  as  days 
of  judgment,  of  vengeance,  or  of  recompense  :  and  these  are 
often  alluded  to  in  such  strong  phraseology,  that  the  inattentive 
reader  might  easily  be  led  to  think  that  they  belonged  to  the 
concerns  of  eternity.  See  the  following,  with  regard  to  the  de- 
struction of  Idumea.  "  And  all  the  host  of  heaven  shall  be  dis- 
solved, and  the  heavens  shall  be  rolled  together  as  a  scroll : 
and  all  their  host  shall  fall  down,  as  the  leaf  falleth  off  from 
the  vine,  and  as  a  falling  Jig  from  the  fig-tree.  For  my  sword 
sliall  be  bathed  in  heaven ;  behold,  it  shall  come  down  upon 
Idumea,  and  upon  the  people  of  my  curse,  to  judgment."  (Isaiah 
xxxiv.  4,  5.)  "  For  it  is  the  day  of  the  Lord's  vengeance,  and 
the  year  of  recompences  for  the  controversy  of  Zion.  And  the 
streams  thereof  shall  be  turned  into  burning  pitch,  and  the  dust 
thereof  into  brimstone,  and  the  land  thereof  shall  become  burning 
pitch :  It  shall  not  be  quenched  night  nor  day  ;  the  smoke 
thereof  shall  go  up  forever :  from  generation  to  generation  it 
shall  lie  waste ;  none  shall  pass  through  it  for  ever  and  ever." 
(ib.  8—10.) 

Let  us  now  attend  to  the  texts  which  are  considered  as  direct 
proofs  of  a  future  general  judgment :  the  first  is  Acts  xvii.  30,  31. 
If  I  have  any  knowledge  of  language  this  passage  affords  a 
refutation  of  the  doctrine  it  is  brought  forward  to  support.  It 
informs  us  that  God  connived  at  the  idolatry  of  former  times, 
because  of  the  ignorance  of  the  people ;  "  but  now,"  says  the 
apostle,  "  he  calls  on  all  men  every  where  to  repent."  Why  1 
^'•Because  he  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  he  will  judge  the 
world,"  &c.  Now  here  a  question  arises.  Are  all  men,  of  all 
ages,  to  be  judged  at  that  appointed  day?  If  so,  I  again  ask, 
why  were  not  men  called  on  in  lortner  times  to  repent  as  well 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  205 

as  now  1 

at  former  wickedness,  if  it  be  true  that  he  purposes  bringing  it  to 
the  scrutiny  of  his  bar  ?  It  is  most  manifest  that  the  apostle  spake 
of  a  judgment  in  which  the  people  of  former  times  had  no  con- 
cern ;  and,  therefore,  not  a  future  general  judgment,  for  in  that  it 
is  supposed,  all  will  be  concerned  alike  !  To  me  the  apostle's 
meaning  is  clearly  as  follows  :  "  In  past  limes,  when  Jehovah 
made  no  express  manifestations  of  himself  to  the  heathen  nations, 
their  idolatry  was  excused,  or  overlooked,  but  now,  a  dispensation 
of  superior  glory  being  opened — its  light  and  privileges  being 
extended  to  all — all  are  now  called  upon  to  reform  their  conduct : 
for  God  hath  appointed  in  this  latter  day  to  judge  the  world,  by 
the  strict  and  righteous  principles  of  the  gospel  of  his  son  ;  and 
he  hath  given  assurance  of  this  fact — he  has  set  the  seal  of  his 
direct  panction  to  his  son's  doctrines,  by  raising  him  from  the 
dead."  Such,  upon  the  face  of  the  passage,  seems  its  true  mean- 
ing, and  the  following  considerations  go  irrefutably  to  confirm  it. 
1st.  As  has  been  shown  before,  the  gospel  dispensation  is  em- 
phatically termed,  "  the  time  of  Gocfs  judgment.''''  2nd.  Christ 
expressly  declares  that  he  will  not  personally  judge  men,  but  "  the 
words  that  t  have  spoken,"  saith  he,  *'  the  same  shall  judge  him 
in  the  last  day  :"  (John  xii.  48.)  i.  e.,  the  gospel  day,  or  era. 
3rd.  We  have  testimony  direct  both  as  to  the  time  and  the  place 
of  this  judgment,  both  of  which  are  in  accordance  with  the  above 
view.  "  Now  is  the  judgment  of  this  world."  (John  ix.  30.) 
"  He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  judgment 
in  the  earth  :  and  the  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law."  (Isaiah  xlii.  4.) 
*'  But  let  him  that  glorieth,  glory  in  this,  that  he  understandeth 
and  knoweth  me,  that  I  am  the  Lord  which  exercise  loving-kind- 
ness, judgment,  and  righteousness  in  the  earth  .•  for  in  these  things 
I  delight,  saith  the  Lord."  (Jer.  ix.  24.)  "  Behold,  the  days 
come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  raise  unto  David  a  righteous 
Branch,  and  a  King  shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall  execute 
judgment  and  justice  in  the  earths  (Jer.  xxiii.  5.)  Thus  much  for 
my  opponent's  first  direct  proof  of  a  general  judgment  after  death: 
it  is  precisely  the  text  that  I  should  select  for  a  contrary  purpose. 

His  next  is  in  2  Pet.  iii. :  this  seems,  prima  facie,  to  lend  more 
countenance  to  his  position,  and  without  doubt  this  seeming 
is  greatly  strengthened  by  our  educational  bias  :  but  never  mind, 

Vol.  I.— S 


206  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

with  candid  scrutiny  for  our  guide  we  shall  get  at  the  writer's 
meaning  I  trust.  Did  the  writer  mean  that  the  natural  elements 
— fire,  air,  water  &c.,  should  "  melt  with  fervent  heat "  ?  !  What 
meant  he  by  telling  those  to  whom  he  wrote  that  they  looked  for 
these  things  1  and  also,  by  exhorting  them  to  maintain  a  strict 
watch  in  reference  to  them  ]  Do  not  these  circumstances  seem  to 
imply  that  they  were  near  at  hand  ?  Now  that  the  13th  verse  figu- 
ratively represents  the  gospel  state,  no  attentive  student  of  the 
bible  will  question.  "  Nevertheless  we,  according  to  his  prom- 
ise, look  for  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth,  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness."  (2  Pet.  ii.  13.)  With  this  compare  the  following 
in  Isaiah :  "  For,  behold,  I  create  new  heavens,  and  a  new  earth  : 
and  the  former  shall  not  be  remembered,  nor  come  into  mind. 
But  be  ye  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that  which  I  create  :  for, 
behold  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and  her  people  a  joy.  And 
I  will  rejoice  in  Jerusalem,  and  joy  in  my  people :  and  the  voice 
of  weeping  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  her,  nor  the  voice  of  crying. 
There  shall  be  no  more  thence  an  infant  of  lays,  nor  an  old  man 
that  hath  not  filled  his  days ;  for  the  child  shall  die  a  hundred 
years  old ;  but  the  sinner,  heing  a  hundred  years  old,  shall  be 
accursed.  And  they  shall  build  houses,  and  inhabit  them  ;  and 
they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them."  &c.  (Isaiah 
Ixv.  17 — 20.)  This  cannot  belong  to  eternity,  for  it  is  presumed 
people  will  not  there  build  houses,  nor  plant  vineyards,  nor  die 
even  in  their  hundredth  year.  John,  in  Revelation,  describes  the 
same  state  of  things.  "  And  I  saw  a  new  heaven  and  a  new 
earth  ;  for  the  first  heaven  and  the  first  earth  were  passed  away  ; 
aad  there  was  no  more  sea.  And  I  John  saw  the  holy  city,  new 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared  as  a 
bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  And  I  heard  a  great  voice  out  of 
heaven,  saying  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and 
he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God 
himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God.  And  God  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more 
death,  neither  sorrow,  nor  crying,  neither  shall  there  be  any  more 
pain  :  for  the  former  things  are  passed  away.  And  he  that  sat 
upon  the  throne  said.  Behold,  I  make  all  things  new.  And  he 
said  unto  me,  Write  :  for  these  words  are  true  and  faithful." 
(Rev.  xxi.  1 — 5.)     Observe.    This  New  Jerusalem  is  not  wii^ 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  207 

God  in  heaven,  but  it  cometh  down  from  God,  out  of  heaven. 
The  destruction  of  the  Jewish  state  is  several  times  alluded  to  in 
the  scriptures  under  the  figure  of  a  dissolution  of  the  physical 
universe.  See  a  prediction  to  this  effect  in  Haggai.  "  For  thus 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  Yet  once,  it  is  a  little  while,  and  I  will 
shake  the  heavens,  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  the  dry  land: 
And  I  will  shake  ill  nations,  and  the  Desire  of  all  nations  shall 
come  :  and  I  wiJi  fill  this  house  with  glory,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts."  (Hag.  ii.  6,  7.)  By  universal  consent  of  commentators, 
this  alludes  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Mosaic  institution,  and  the 
bringing  in  that  of  the  gospel.  Paul  evidently  so  understood  it. 
"  Whose  voice  then  shook  the  earth  :  but  now  he  hath  promised, 
saying,  Yet  once  more  I  shake  not  the  earth  only,  but  also  heaven. 
And  this  word,  Yet  once  more,  signifieth  the  removing  of  those 
things  that  are  shaken,  as  of  things  that  are  made,  that  those 
things  which  cannot  be  shaken  may  remain.  Wherefore,  we 
receiving  a  kingdom  which  cannot  be  moved,  let  us  have  grace, 
whereby  we  may  serve  God  acceptably  with  reverence  and  godly 
fear."  (Heb.  xii.  26 — 28.)  From  the  whole,  then,  it  must  be 
apparent  to  all  my  attentive  hearers,  that  Peter  is  speaking  of  no 
other  judgment  than  that  which  was  to  accompany  the  dissolution 
of  the  old  covenant,  and  the  ushering  in  of  the  new :  his  lan- 
guage and  imagery  are  exceedingly  bold,  it  is  true,  and  so,  indeed, 
they  well  might  be,  for  the  events  themselves  were  to  be  stupen- 
dous beyond  what  had  ever  before  been  witnessed. 

Should  it  be  objected,  that,  inasmuch  as  there  is  an  allusion  in 
the  connexion  to  the  destruction  of  the  old  world  by  water,  and  it 
took  place  literally,  therefore  we  ought  also  to  understand  the  pre- 
dicted destruction  by  fire  in  a  similar  sense.  I  answer,  that  in 
point  of  fact  the  old  world  was  not,  itself,  destroyed  by  the 
deluge :  the  inhabitants  only  were  destroyed — and  not  all  of 
them,  for  Noah  and  his  family  were  saved,  and  the  writer  himself 
saith  "  the  same  world  is  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire,"  &c. : 
that  a  literal  destruction  of  the  "  ungodly  men,"  referred  to  in  the 
text,  took  place  when  the  old  system  was  abolished,  is  not  denied. 

The  next  proof  of  a  judgment  after  death,  is  in  2  Thessaloni- 
ans,  i.  Here  we  have  the  coming  of  Christ — with  his  mighty 
angels — taking  vengeance  on  the  rejectors  of  the  gospel,  &c. : 
were  not  these  matters,  in  the  foregoing  debate,  clearly  proven  to 


208  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

have  taken  place  when  the  dissolution  of  the  Jewish  state,  above 
alluded  to,  transpired  ]  Was  there  to  be  more  than  one  such 
coining  of  Christ  1  If  so,  as  they  are  all  similarly  described,  how 
shall  we  distinguish  between  them  1 

A  careful  analysis  of  this  text,  with  the  context,  presents  the 
following  as  its  chief  subject-matters,  viz.  :  The  apostle  writes 
to  comfort  the  Thessalonian  christians  under  their  persecutions — 
he  asserts  the  righteousness  of  God  in  recompensing  tribulation 
upon  those  that  troubled  them — he  promises  them  rest  from  these 
afflictions  when  the  Lord  Jesus  should  be  revealed,  to  take  ven- 
geance on  the  persecutors  and  rejectors  of  his  gospel — this  ven- 
geance is  termed  "  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power."  In  the  next  chapter 
the  apostle  terms  the  time  of  these  transactions  "  that  day  ;"  and 
he  cautions  them  against  being  deceived  by  reports  that  it  had 
already  arrived,  for  it  should  not  occur  until  "a  falling  away" 
had  taken  place ;  (alluding,  no  doubt,  to  some  signal  apostacy,) 
and  the  "  man  of  sin"  had  been  revealed,  whom  the  Lord  should 
"  consume  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming."  This  very  cau- 
tion implies  that  the  coming  of  Christ  alluded  to  was  not  distant, 
although  less  near  than  some  would  have  had  them  think ;  they 
would  not,  methinks,  have  been  likely  to  be  deceived  with  expecta- 
tions of  an  immediate  coming  of  Christ  to  judgment,  if  they  had 
not  been  taught  that  it  should  happen  at  no  great  distance  of  time. 

"  But  then,"  it  may  be  objected,  "  this  epistle  was  written  to  a 
gentile  church,  and  said  church  was  situated  in  a  gentile  city; 
how  then  could  the  overthrow  of  the  Jewish  state  concern  them  ?" 
Thessalonica,  it  is  true,  was  a  gentile  city ;  but  the  number  of 
Jews  which  were  there  seems  to  have  been  considerable,  and  quite 
influential  also,  (see  Acts  xvii.)  and  extremely  active  in  their 
opposition  to  the  gospel.  "  Now,  when  they  had  passed  through 
Amphipolis  and  Apollonia,  they  came  to  Thessalonica,  where  was 
a  synagogue  of  the  Jews.  And  Paul,  as  his  manner  was,  went 
in  unto  them,  and  three  sabbath-days  reasoned  with  them  out  of 
the  scriptures  ;  opening  and  alleging  that  Christ  must  needs  have 
suffered,  and  risen  again  from  the  dead  ;  and  that  this  Jesus, 
whom  I  preach  unto  you,  is  Christ.  And  some  of  them  believed, 
and  consorted  with  Paul  and  Silas  ;  and  of  the  devout  Greeks  a 
great  multitude,  and  of  the  chief  women  not  a  few.     But  the 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  209 

JeWS"  which  belieVisd  not,  moved  with  envy,  took  unto  them  cer- 
tain lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,  and  gathered  a  company,  and 
set  all  the  city  on  an  uproar,  and  assaulted  the  house  of  Jason, 
and  sought  to  bring  them  out  to  the  people.  And  when  they 
found  them  not,  they  drew  Jason  and  certain  of  the  brethren  unto 
the  rulers  of  the  city,  crying,  These  that  have  turned  the  world 
upside  down  are  come  hither  also."  (Acts  xvii.  1 — 6.)  I  cannot 
doubt  that  it  is  to  these  the  apostle  refers  in  his  letter  to  the 
christian  church  in  this  place,  when  he  says,  "  it  is  a  righteous 
thing  with  God  to  recompense  tribulation  to  them  that  trouble 
you  :"  for  such  was  the  rancorous  enmity  of  these  Thessalonian 
Jews  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  (and  indeed  of  the  Jews  in  general,) 
that  they  followed  the  apostles  with  persecutions  even  to  other 
and  distant  places :  see  what  is  said  of  their  conduct  at  Berea. 
"  But  when  the  Jews  of  Thessalonica  had  knowledge  that  the 
word  of  God  was  preached  of  Paul  at  Berea,  they  came  thither 
also,  and  stirred  up  the  people."  (ib.  13.)  Similar  notices  of  the 
opposition  of  this  bigoted  people  to  the  apostles  appear  in  several 
places  in  the  book  of  Acts :  see  the  following-,  for  example, 
which  relates  to  Antioch.  "  And  the  next  sabbath-day  came 
almost  all  the  whole  city  together  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  But 
when  the  Jews  saw  the  multitudes,  they  were  filled  with  envy, 
and  spake  against  those  things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul,  con- 
tradicting and  blaspheming."  (Acts  xiii.  44,  45.)  "And  the  word 
of  the  Lord  was  published  throughout  all  the  region.  But  the 
Jews  stirred  up  the  devout  and  honourable  women,  and  the  chief 
men  of  the  city,  and  raised  persecution  against  Paul  and  Barna- 
bas, and  expelled  them  out  of  their  coasts."  (ib.  49,  50.) 

"  But  what,"  it  may  again  be  asked,  "  are  we  to  understand 
by  a  '  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  V  "  &c.  Liter- 
ally, the  presence  of  God  is  every  where  :  "  Whither  shall  I 
go  from  thy  Spirit  1  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  presence  ? 
If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou  art  there;  if  I  make  my 
bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there.  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the 
morning,  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea;  Even 
there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold 
me.  If  I  say.  Surely  the  darkness  shall  cover  me ;  even  the 
night  shall  be  light  about  me.  Yea,  the  darkness  hideth  not 
from  thee ;  but  the  night  shineth  as  the  day  :  the  darkness  and 

Vol.  I.— s  2 


210  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  light  are  both  alike  to  iAee."  (Psl.  cxxxix.  7 — 12.)  There 
can  be  no  getting  out  of  God's  presence,  then,  literally  :  this 
must  necessarily  be  understood  in  some  qualified  sense,  and  that 
sense  may  well  be  supposed,  a  banishment  from  such  place  or 
places  as  Jehovah  was  supposed  specially  to  manifest  himself  in. 
I  need  not  inform  my  hearers  that  the  land  of  Judea  was  thought 
by  the  Jews  to  be  such  a  place  ;  more  especially  Jerusalem,  and 
more  especially  still  the  temple  there:  To  it,  in  their  banishments, 
they  turned  their  faces  when  they  prayed. — There  shone  the 
shekinah,  the  representative  of  the  divine  presence — there  was 
the  holy  of  holies,  where  Jehovah  was  supposed  to  dwell  between 
the  cherubim.  Jonah  expressly  identifies  the  temple  as  the 
place  of  God's  presence:  "Then  I  said,  I  am  cast  out  of  thy 
sight;  yet  I  will  look  again  toward  thy  holy  temple."  (Jonah 
ii.  4.)  So  says  David,  repeatedly,  (Psl.  xcv.  2 :  c.  2.)  The 
fact  of  Jerusalem  being  regarded  in  that  light  is  still  more  plainly 
evinced  in  the  following  passage,  which  commemorates  the  for- 
bearance of  God  toward  the  Jews,  in  not  exiling  them  from  their 
country :  "  And  the  Lord  was  gracious  unto  them,  and  had  com- 
passion on  them,  and  had  respect  unto  them,  because  of  his 
covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  would  not  destroy 
them,  neither  cast  he  them  from  his  presence  as  yet."  (2  Kings 
xiii.  23.)  The  following  is  also  to  the  same  effect :  "  For  through 
the  anger  of  the  Lord  it  came  to  pass  in  Jerusalem  and  Judah, 
until  he  had  cast  them  out  from  his  presence,  that  Zedekiah  re- 
belled against  the  king  of  Babylon."  (ibid.  xxiv.  20.)  Now  if 
even  the  Jews  were  sojourning  in  foreign  lands,  yet,  as  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Jerusalem  at  the  times  of  their 
great  feasts  and  religious  festivals,  they  might  with  equal  pro- 
priety all  be  said  to  have  been  driven  from  God's  presence,  when 
their  beloved  city  and  temple  were  consumed  with  flames — their 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  privileges  taken  from  them,  and  they, 
scattered  as  a  conquered  and  captive  people  amongst  the  different 
nations  of  the  Roman  empire. 

"  But  the  punishment  is  termed  everlastings  and  this,"  it  may 
be  said,  "  signifies  duration  without  end."  On  this  feature  of  the 
case  I  shall  not  at  present  devote  much  time,  as  I  design  by  and  by 
to  consider  the  scriptural  uses  of  these  words  at  large.  One  only 
view  of  the  subject  will  I  here  take,  which,  however,  I  think 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  211 

ought  of  itself  be  sufficient.  If  the  word  everlasting,  as  used  in 
the  scriptures,  strictly,  and  generally,  mean  endless  duration,  we 
then  have  two  communications,  resting  equally  on  divine  authori- 
ty, which  are  in  direct,  and  irreconcilable  contradiction  to  each 
other.  The  one  of  these  is  an  absolute  promise  that  the  Israelites 
should  hold  the  land  of  Canaan  by  an  everlasting  possession. 
(Gen.  xlviii.  4.)  The  other  is  that  they  should  be  exiled  from 
their  country,  and  scattered  amongst  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
I  need  not  quote  authority  for  the  latter,  as  it  occurs  in  several 
places,  and  long  since  is  so  strikingly  confirmed  by  fact.  If  the 
everlasting  banishment  of  the  Jews  from  their  country  were  now 
brought  to  a  close,  it  would  even  then  have  proved  of  as  long 
duration  as  did  the  everlasting  possession ;  but  the  former  may 
still  continue  as  long  in  the  future,  for  aught  that  appears  to  the 
contrary,  as  it  already  has  in  the  past. 

Let  us  now  to  the  passage  in  Heb.  ix,  in  which  it  is  thought 
the  doctrine  of  a  judgment  after  death  is  directly  asserted. 
Surely  no  text  has  been  more  trifled  with,  or  more  wrested  from 
its  purpose,  than  this  :  in  order  to  make  it  speak  a  sense  which 
it  was  never  meant  to  speak,  it  is  a  usual  practice  of  our  opponets 
to  mutulate  it  at  both  ends;  from  the  beginning  are  clipped  the 
words,  "And  as,"  which  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  grammar, 
connect  it  inseparably  with  what  goes  before  :  and  at  the  end  is 
unceremoniously  lopped  off  all  that  follows  the  word  "judgment ;" 
whereas  the  adverbial  conjunction,  "so,"  by  the  same  laws,  in- 
dissolubly  joins  it  to  what  comes  after !  By  thus  minoing  the 
passage,  our  opponents  have  brought  it  into  tolerable  subserviency 
to  the  notion  of  a  post  mortem  judgment.  Correctly  quoted  it  reads 
as  follows :  "  And  as  it  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but 
after  this  the  judgment;  So  Christ  was  once  offered  to  bear  the 
sins  of  many  :  and  unto  them  that  look  for  him  shall  he  appear 
the  second  time,  without  sin  unto  salvation."  (Heb.  ix.  27,  28.) 

Who,  that  reads  the  whole  connexion,  can  suppose  the  writer 
had  any  allusion  to  the  death  and  judgment  of  men  in  common  ? 
Understood  in  such  light  it  is  as  whimsical  and  vagrant  an  episode 
to  the  subject  in  hand,  as  was  ever  perpetrated  by  a  writer  in 
sober  prose  !     It  is  a  link  of  sand  in  a  chain  of  gold  ! 

Truth  is,  that  Paul  (or  whoever  is  the  author  of  this  epistle)  is 
speaking  of  a  particular  class  of  men,  and  not  of  men  in  general ; 


212  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

this  is  confirmed  by  the  Greek  reading  of  the  text.  "  And  as  it  is 
appointed  unto  the  men  (to/?  a.v^fmroi;')  once  to  die,"  &c.  Those, 
namely,  with  whom  he  is  conlrasiing:  Jesus  Christ  in  his  priestly 
capacity — the  Jewish  high-priests.  It  is  quite  impossible  for  any 
one  who  candidly  attends  to  the  connexion  to  deny  this.  But  I  may 
be  asked,  "  In  what  peculiar  sense  did  these  men  die  1  and  what 
are  we  to  understand  of  the  judgment  which  followed  1"  Fair 
questions  these,  and  they  shall  be  fairly  answered. 

Paul,  as  I  have  said,  is  running  a  parallel  between  the  Levitical 
priesthood  and  that  of  Jesus  Christ;  the  former  did  not  continue 
long  in  one  person  "  by  reason  of  death,"  but  Christ  continuebh 
forever,  and  therefore  "  hath  an  unchangeable  priesthood  :"  the 
saviour  "  needeth  not  daily  as  those  high-priests  to  offer  up  sacri- 
fices," for  this,  ("  when  he  offered  up  himself,")  he  did  once, 
forever :  the  Levitical  priests  went  "  into  the  holy  places  made 
with  hands,"  but  Christ  "  into  heaven  itself,  now  to  appear  in 
the  presence  of  God  for  us:"  the  former  entered  "  with  the  blood 
of  others,  but  Christ  w4th  his  own  blood  ;"  the  annual  death  of 
the  former  was  but  typical,  not  actual ;  the  one  sacrificial  death 
of  Christ  was  real,  and  personal.  When  the  Jewish  high-priest 
came  out  from  the  holy  of  holies,  (having  died^  in  the  manner 
stated,  "  for  his  own  sins,  and  for  the  sins  of  the  people,")  he 
pronounced  2,  judgment  upon  the  congregation  who  waited  with- 
out the  tabernacle  for  his  re-appearance  ;  this  was  a  sentence  of 
acquittal  of  their  errors  of  the  past  year  ;  it  was  in  the  following 
words  :  "  The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee-  The  Lord  make 
his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee ;  The  Lord 
lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace."  (Num. 
vi.  24 — 27.)  The  author  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  has  most 
ingeniously  accommodated  this  circumstance  in  the  usages  of 
Jewish  worship  to  illustrate  certain  facts  under  the  gospel :  as, 
for  example,  the  Levitical  high-priest  was  seen  after  his  ceremo- 
nial death  by  the  congregation,  looking  for  him,  to  their  joy,  and 
justification  from  the  sins  of  the  past  year.  So  Christ,  though 
dead,  shall  appear  in  the  hearts  of  all  believers  unto  their  salva- 
tion— salvation,  not  from  the  condemnation  for  sin  merely,  but 
from  sin  itself. 

So  much  for  this  passage,  so  strongly  relied  upon  by  many  in 
proof  of  post-mortem  judgment.   I  put  it  to  your  candor  and  good 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO. V.  213 

sense,  my  hearers,  if  it  can  be  properly  considered  as  being  at  all 
to  that  purpose  1  That  cause  must  be  sadly  put  to  it  for  authori- 
ties which  resorts  to  one  so  really  foreign  to  its  object,  as  is  the 
text  before  us  to  the  object  of  the  doctrine  of  a  general  judgment 
after  death.  It  is  any  thing  but  probable  that  a  short  isolated 
declaration,  about  men  in  general  being  judged  after  they  died, 
should  have  been  thrown  into  the  midst  of  a  chain  of  argumenta- 
tion, which  had  for  its  object  the  exemplifying  the  superiority  of 
the  christian  over  the  Jewish  priesthood  !  And  besides,  if  we 
even  lose  sight  of  this  absurdity,  and  admit  the  clause  to  refer  to 
a  general  judgment  after  death,  then  tell  me  pray,  what  analogy 
can  be  found  betwixt  that  circumstance,  and  the  sacrificial  offer- 
ing and  subsequent  appearance  of  Christ  to  believers  1  Can  you 
discover  any,  whatever  1  If  none,  then  that  circumstance  cannot 
be  the  one  intended  by  the  writer  in  the  text,  but  some  other  with 
which  Christ's  death  and  subsequent  appearance  will  compare  ; 
and  I  have  already  shown  what  that  is. 

Well,  my  opponent  has  given  us  two  other  texts — one  in  Daniel 
vii,  the  other  in  Revelation  xx  :  he  confesses  them  somewhat 
obscure  and  enigmatical,  and  he  therefore  leans  not  on  them  with 
much  reliance  ;  we  will  glance  at  them  nevertheless,  for  if  they 
will  not  serve  to  prove  the  position  of  our  friend,  they  may  to 
refute  it. 

As  to  the  one  in  Daniel,  it  wholly  relates  to  what  should  take 
place  in  the  days  of  the  fourth  kingdom — which,  as  all  good 
critics  unite  in  saying,  is  the  Roman  empire.  These  kingdoms 
were  first  shadowed  forth  to  the  mind  of  Nebuchadnezzar  in  a 
dream,  under  the  representation  of  a  large  image  of  a  human 
figure;  the  head  thereof,  being  of  gold,  symbolized  the  Assyrian 
empire ;  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver,  symbolized  the  Medo- 
Persian  (which  subverted  the  Assyrian  ;)  the  belly  and  thighs 
of  brass,  represented  the  Macedonian  (which  subverted  the  Medo- 
Persian ;)  the  legs  and  feet  of  iron  and  clay,  shadowed  forth  the 
Roman  power  (which  subverted  the  Macedonian  ;)  the  ten  toes 
of  the  image  represented  the  ten  kingdoms  of  which  the  Roman 
power  was  composed.  "  And  in  the  days  of  these  kings  shall 
the  God  of  heaven  set  up  a  kingdom,  which  shall  never  be  de- 
stroyed :  and  the  kingdom  shall  not  be  left  to  other  people,  but 
it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  consume  all  these  kingdoms,  and  it 


214  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

shall  stand  forever.  Forasmuch  as  thou  sawest  that  the  stone 
was  cut  out  of  the  mountain  without  hands,  and  that  it  brake  in 
in  pieces  the  iron,  the  brass,  the  clay,  the  silver,  and  the  gold  ; 
the  great  God  hath  made  known  to  the  king  what  shall  come  to 
pass  hereafter.  And  the  dream  is  certain,  and  the  interpretation 
thereof  sure."  This  last  represents  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
which,  it  is  well  known,  arose  in  the  midst  of,  and  completely 
superceded  the  Roman  power.  Bishop  Newton  (with  whom  in 
the  main  agrees  Sir  Isaac  Newton)  speaketh  as  follows  in  his 
dissertations  on  the  prophecies  :  "  All  these  kingdoms  will  be 
succeeded  by  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah.  '  I  beheld,'  saith 
Daniel,  ver.  9,  10.  '  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,'  or  rather  '  till 
thrones  were  set,  and  the  ancient  of  days  did  sit,  whose  garment 
was  white  as  snow,  and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  the  pure  wool : 
his  throne  was  like  the  fiery  flame,  and  his  wheels  as  burning  fire. 
A  fiery  stream  issued  and  came  forth  from  before  him  :  thousand 
thousands  ministered  unto  him :  and  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  stood  before  him:  the  judgment  was  set,'  or  the  judges 
did  sit,  'and  the  books  were  opened.'  These  metaphors  and 
figures  are  borrowed  from  the  solemnities  of  earthly  judicatories, 
and  particularly  of  the  great  Sanhedrim  of  the  Jews,  where  the 
father  of  the  consistory  sat,  with  his  assessors  seated  on  each 
side  of  him,  in  the  form  of  a  semicircle,  and  the  people  standing 
before  him  :  and  from  this  description  again  was  borrowed  the 
description  of  the  day  of  judgment  in  the  New  Testament." 
Daniel  afterward  had  the  same  great  events  presented  to  his 
mind  in  a  vision  of  a  different  kind :  instead  of  an  image  of  a 
human  figure  he  saw  four  beasts  ;  the  1st  like  a  lion,  representing 
the  Babylonian  power :  the  2nd  like  a  bear,  standing  for  the  Me- 
do-Persian  :  the  3rd  like  a  leopard,  by  which  is  symbolized  the 
Macedonian  ;  and  4thly  comes  the  Roman  empire,  represented  by 
a  beast  of  great  power  and  ferocity,  which  has  no  prototype  in 
nature :  it  had  ten  horns,  representing  the  ten  integral  parts  of 
this  great  kingdom.  The  prophet  then  in  a  very  sublime  manner 
alludes  to  the  institution  of  the  empire  of  Christ,  (in  the  very 
midst  of  the  Roman  power,  and  at  the  time  of  the  zenith  of  its 
glory.)  "  I  beheld  till  the  thrones  were  cast  down,  and  the 
Ancient  of  days  did  sit,"  &c.  He  then  speaks  of  a  little  horn 
springing  up  in  the  midst  of  the  ten,  which,  from  the  description^ 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO.  V.  215 

is  undoubtedly  some  grand  apostate  from,  and  persecutor  of  the 
church ;  without  doubt  it  is  the  same  as  is  alluded  to  by  Paul, 
under  the  appellative  of  the  "  man  of  sin,"  whom  the  Lord  should 
consume  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming.  "  I  beheld,  and  the 
same  horn  made  war  with  the  saints,  and  prevailed  against  them ; 
until  the  Ancient  of  days  came,  and  judgment  was  given  to  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High  ;  and  the  time  came  that  the  saints  pos- 
sessed the  kingdom.  Thus  he  said,  The  fourth  beast  shall  be  the 
fourth  kingdom  upon  earth,  which  shall  be  diverse  from  all  king- 
doms, and  shall  devour  the  whole  earth,  and  shall  tread  it  down, 
and  break  it  in  pieces.  And  the  ten  horns  out  of  this  kingdom 
are  ten  kings  that  shall  arise  :  and  another  shall  rise  after  them  ; 
and  he  shall  be  diverse  from  the  first,  and  he  shall  subdue  three 
kings.  And  he  shall  speak  great  words  against  the  Most  High, 
and  shall  wear  out  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  and  think  to 
change  times  and  laws :  and  they  shall  be  given  into  his  hand, 
until  a  time  and  times  and  the  dividing  of  time.  But  the  judg- 
ment shall  sit,  and  they  shall  take  away  his  dominion,  to  consume 
and  to  destroy  it  unto  the  end.  And  the  kingdom  and  dominion, 
and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole  heaven,  shall 
be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  whose 
kingdom  is  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  all  dominions  shall  serve 
and  obey  him."  (Dan.  vii.  21 — 27.) 

On  the  passage  in  Rev.  xx.  it  cannot  be  necessary  to  say  much, 
it  is  evidently  parallel  with  the  above  in  Daniel,  whence  also  its 
representations  are  borrowed  :  it  shadows  forth  the  universal 
reign  and  judicial  authority  of  Christ  Messiah  :  in  those  days  the 
regal  and  judicial  functions  of  government  were  invariably  united ; 
hence  in  scripture  phraseology,  to  judge,  always  imports  the  same 
as  to  govern:  when  it  is  said  that  such  and  such  persons  jW^ed 
Israel  at  particular  times,  we  are  to  understand  that  these  per- 
sons exercised  the  supreme  rule  ;  when  ii  is  said  also  that  "  the 
Lord  shall  judge  his  people,"  we  may  understand  it  precisely  as 
if  it  read,  the  Lord  shall  govern  his  people.  In  accordance  with 
this  usage  the  moral  governrrtent  of  Messiah  during  the  gospel  era 
is  set  forth  under  the  representation  of  a  judgment,  or  trial  in 
judicial  form.  Christ  told  his  disciples  they  should  sit  with  him 
on  thrones,  "judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel :"  in  other  words, 
that  as  his  instruments  they  should  assist  in  the  moral  govern- 


216  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

merit  of  his  church  or  kingdom ;  "  to  stand  at  the  judgment* 
seat  of  Christ,"  then,  is  to  be  amenable  to  him  as  our  moral 
governor  etc.,  etc.  It  is  most  marvelous  that  erudite  expositors 
of  the  bible,  seeing  that  these  matters  were  not  unknown  to  them, 
should  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  so  warped  by  preju- 
dice as  to  charge  it  with  teaching  the  heathenish  dogma,  that 
Jehovah  has  need  to  arraign  the  spirits  of  dead  men  at  his  tri- 
bunal, in  order  that  he  may  form  a  decision  upon  their  actions 
while  in  the  body  !  That  the  heathen  nations  should  have  gener- 
ally adopted  this  persuasion  is  less  wonderful,  seeing  that  all 
their  notions  of  their  divinities  were  gross,  and  grew  out  of 
usages  amongst  themselves.  The  Jews  deemed  better  of  their 
God — more  philosophically — an  all-seeing — all-pervading  spirit — 
all  just,  and  pure,  and  good— whose  tribunal  is  in  the  bosom  of 
every  thinking  Being :  what  needs  he  of  an  external  bar  ] — Of 
books,  and  witnesses,  and  other  of  the  forms  and  ceremonials  of 
trial  1  The  Jewish  scriptures  sanction  no  such  puerile  represen- 
tations of  the  infinite  Jehovah.  Shame  to  christians,  that  they 
have  copied  the  crude  conceptions  of  heathenism  ! 

The  book  of  Revelation  abounds  v/ith  prosopopceia,  or  personi-' 
Jication.  Sin,  death,  hell,  the  devil,  antichrist,  heresies  of  differ- 
ent kinds,  are  all  personified  :  and  to  such  length  is  the  figure 
carried  that  they  are  even  in  some  cases  represented  as  suffering ; 
hence  we  find  mention  of  a  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  "  where 
the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  are :"  (these  represent  a  spirit 
of  apostacy  and  a  spirit  of  persecution.)  And  hence  also  we  find 
mention  of  the  casting  of  death  and  hell  into  the  lake  of  fire ;  also 
the  cases  of  those  who  had  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  cause  of 
Christ,  are  represented  under  the  figure  of  the  souls  of  these  per- 
sons, which  are  set  forth  as  crying  out  for  vengeance  upon  their 
persecutors.  This  latter  circumstance  was  seized  upon  by  my  op- 
ponent, who,  understanding  it  in  the  literal  sense,  supposes  that 
saints  in  heaven  are  actually  impatient  for  the  day  of  judgment, 
that  they  may  be  avenged  in  the  endless  damnation  of  their 
oppressors!  Merciful  God,  what  saints  are  these!  if  such  is 
the  character  of  the  inhabitants  of  heaven,  demons  of  darkness 
were  preferable  society  to  them.  This  portion  of  Scripture,  as 
has  been  before  shown,  revealed  things  which  were  shortly  to 
come  to  pass — the  trials  and  sufferings  of  the  infant  Christian 


POPULAR  DEBATE, NO. V.  217 

church — the  judgments  which  should  be  executed  upon  its  oppo- 
sers  and  corrupters — particularly  those  impending  over  the  Jewish 
church  and  nation,  are  the  prominent  subjects  of  the  book.  These 
judgments  are  sometimes  expressed  under  the  phrase  "  second 
death  ;"  a  death  which  some  have  persisted  in  representing  as  in- 
terminable, in  the  face  of  the  declarations  that  death  is  to  be  de- 
stroyed— be  no  more — be  swallowed  up  in  victory — and  that  in 
its  extinction  the  last  enemy  shall  be  extinguished  !  Undoubt- 
edly the  several  passages  in  this  book  which  speak  of  these 
events,  are  to  be  understood  as  implying  that  under  the  be- 
nign government  of  Messiah,  all  evils,  both  physical  and 
moral,  shall  come  to  an  ultimate  end  ;  no  more  tears — no  more 
night — no  more  death — no  more  sin — no  more  sickness,  nor  sor- 
row, "  for  the  former  things  shall  be  done  away" — no  farther 
need  of  sun,  nor  moon,  for  the  quenchless  and  unsetting  glory  of 
Jehovah  shall  be  the  future  light  of  all  intelligences  forever. 
"And  I  beheld,  and  I  heard  the  voice  of  many  angels  roundabout 
the  throne,  and  the  beasts,  and  the  elders :  and  the  number  of 
them  was  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of 
thousands ;  saying  with  a  loud  voice.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  to  receive  power,  and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength, 
and  honour,  and  glory,  and  blessing.  And  every  creature  which 
is  in  heaven,  and  on  the  earth,  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as 
are  in  the  sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  saying.  Blessing, 
and  honour,  and  glory,  and  power  be  unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever."  (Rev.  v.  11 — 13.) 

What  now  remains  in  proof  of  a  judgment  after  death  ?  I  truly 
know  of  nothing,  either  on  scriptural  or  philosophical  ground  ; 
my  opponent,  it  is  true,  supposes  that  Christ's  question  relative  to 
the  advantage  to  be  derived  from  gaining  all  the  world,  and  losing 
one's  soul^  has  a  bearing  in  favor  of  that  doctrine,  "especially,'* 
quoth  he,  "  as  this  question  was  propounded  in  immediate  con- 
nexion with  the  account  of  his  coming  to  reward  men  according 
to  their  works."  It  was  so,  I  grant;  but  then  what  is  said  in  the 
same  instance  as  to  the  time  of  said  coming  ?  It  was  to  take 
place  in  the  life-time  of  some  that  heard  him  speak ;  and  conse- 
quently, instead  of  favoring  my  friend's  position,  it  makes  against 
it — for  if  God  rewards  men  according  to  their  works  in  this  world, 
h^  certainly  does  not  defer  that  business  until  the  end  of  time. 

Vol.  I.— T  No.  10. 


218  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

A  judgment  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  is  rather  too  far  back, 
1  fancy,  for  the  purpose  of  my  opponent.  Moreover,  ihe  word 
souU  in  the  passage  under  consideration,  should  have  been  life — 
even  the  orthodox  Dr.  Clarke  admits  this,  and  expresses  his 
astonishment  at  the  translator's  having  rendered  it  as  it  now  stands. 
To  the  mere  English  scholar  it  is  manifest,  from  the  grammatical 
connexion  of  the  passage,  that  it  was  the  life  of  which  Christ  was 
speaking,  not  the  soul;  and  it  is  indeed  quite  surprising  that  the 
same  Greek  term  should  have  been  twice  rendered  life  in  one 
verse,  and  twice  soul  in  the  verse  next  following,  and  yet  an  un- 
broken connexion  (both  in  language  and  subject)  uniting  the  two 
verses!  "Then  said  Jesus  unto  his  disciples.  If  any  man  will 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross,  and 
follow  me.  For  whosoever  will  save  his  psuche  shall  lose  it ;  and 
whosoever  will  lose  his  psuche  for  my  sake,  shall  find  it.  For  what 
is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his 
own  psuche?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his 
psuche?"  (Matt.  xvi.  24 — 26.)  When  the  rules  of  interpretation 
are  thus  grossly  violated,  one  cannot  help  suspecting  that  truth 
has  been  purposely  sacrificed  to  the  interests  of  a  creed.  To  per- 
versions of  this  kind  the  popular  dogmas  in  theology  are  mostly 
indebted  for  the  scriptural  countenance  they  claim.  The  dangers 
of  losing  the  soul !  How  many  a  thrilling  and  terrifying  peal  has 
been  rung  upon  this  theme  !  And  men  in  their  ignorance  have 
not  doubted  that  their  aroused  alarm  on  this  head  had  good  bible 
warrant.* 

I  cannot  be  persuaded,  my  hearers,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  judg- 
ment after  death  has  been  productive  of  any  benefit  to  mankind  ; 
whatever  tends  to  encourage  the  impression  that  the  retributions  of 
guilt  are  distant — and  uncertain  as  distant — must  necessarily  be 
pernicious  in  its  influences  ;  and  without  doubt,  the  common  no- 
tion of  a  general  judgment  has  this  tendency.  We  have  inspired 
testimony  to  this  effect.  "  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work 
is  not  executed  speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men 

*  "  What  shall  sing  the  dirge  of  a  soul  that  is  lost  1"  exclaimed  the  late  eloquent 
and  amiable  Summerfield.  "  What  celebrate  the  obsequies  of  an  entombed  spirit  1 
If  the  sun  should  hide  his  face  behind  a  darkening  gust— if  the  stars  should  fall  from 
heaven— if  the  heavens  were  veiled  in  sack-cloth— if  earth  were  convulsed  through- 
out her  whole  circumference,  and  from  mountain-top  to  mountain-top  burst  forth  the 
fell  of  horror  and  desolation  ;  all  would  not  be  adequate  to  express  the  event  of  a 
ost  and  damned  soul !"  Very  eloquent  this,  it  is  true ;  but  eloquence  often  lends 
ita  gorgeous  coloring  to  paint  the  face  of  error. 


POPULAR  DEBATE,  NO. V.  219 

is  fully  set  in  them  to  do  evil."  (Eccles.  viii.  11.)  Still  the 
writer  of  this  text  did  not  suppose  that  punishment  was  deferred 
until  after  death  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  positively  asserts  that  the 
days  of  the  wicked  shall  not  be  prolonged  ;  but  the  mere  circum- 
stance of  a  delay  in  the  execution  of  punishment  he  saw  to  be  of 
injurious  consequence  on  the  hearts  of  men.  How  much  more  so, 
to  tell  them  that  they  may  possibly  escape  with  entire  impunity, 
how  guilty  soever  they  might  hel  And  what  must  men  think  of 
the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  Jehovah,  as  our  moral  governor,  if 
he  does  indeed  deal  with  us  upon  principles  which  himself  has 
declared  pernicious  1  It  is  nowise  probable  that  in  the  above 
passage  there  is  allusion  to  a  tardiness  in  the  retributions  of  hea- 
ven ;  I  think  that  the  reference  is  to  human  punishments,  which 
are  often  delayed,  (and  even  omitted  altogether,)  and  men  are  apt 
to  be  emboldened  to  repeat  their  transgressions  by  this  delay  and 
uncertainty.  In  Solomon's  time,  nothing  was  known  of  a  judg- 
ment after  death ;  it  was  a  settled  point  with  the  people  of 
that  day,  that  sooner  or  later  the  judgments  of  heaven  overtook 
the  guilty  in  life ;  although  then,  as  now,  they  were  apt  to  be  de- 
ceived into  false  conclusions,  from  the  external  appearances  of 
prosperity  on  the  part  of  wicked  men,  and  from  the  fact  that 
*'  there  be  just  men  unto  whom  it  happeneth,  according  to  the 
work  of  the  wicked  ;"  as  if  the  operations  of  nature,  and  the  con- 
tingent events  of  life  must  each  moment  be  interfered  with,  and 
shaped  to  suit  the  ever-changing  moral  conditions  of  mankind ! 
Christ  himself  has  told  us,  that  "  God  causeth  his  sun  to  rise  on 
the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  his  rain  upon  the  just  and 
the  unjust."  But  these  circumstances  do  not  conflict  with  the 
express  testimony  of  the  scriptures  on  the  other  hand.  "  Behold, 
the  righteous  shall  be  recompensed  in  the  earth  ;  much  more  the 
wicked  and  the  sinner."  (Prov.  xi.  31.) 

The  sum  of  my  argument,  then,  is  as  follows  :  1st.  That  there  is 
no  express  nor  fairly  implied  scripture  warrant  for  a  general  judg- 
ment after  death.  2d.  That  on  the  contrary,  all  the  texts  which 
speak  of  a  judgment,  or  of  judgments  in  particular,  are  clearly, 
(so  far  as  they  can  be  understood,)  applicable  to  time,  not  to 
eternity.  3d.  Both  God  the  Father,  and  Christ  the  Messiah,  are 
expressly  and  repeatedly  represented  as  exercising  the  judi- 
cial branch  of  their  moral  government  in  the  earth.     4th.  The 


220  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

bible  (as  well  as  civil  history)  abounds  with  instances  of  divine 
judgment  upon  the  guilty,  both  individuals  and  communities. 
5th.  Hence  I  infer  that,  except  the  righteous  Judge  of  all  the  earth 
tries  and  punishes  the  same  parties  twice  for  the  one  cause,  that  a 
judgment  after  death  is  unnecessary.  6th.  It  were  a  mockery  also, 
for  the  cases  to  be  tried  are  clearly  known  to  the  infinite  and  om- 
niscient arbiter,  in  their  origin,  and  consequences,  direct  and  re- 
mote ;  in  his  mind,  therefore,  they  ^re prejudged.  How  vain,  then, 
and  absurd,  were  the  forms  of  trial  under  such  circumstances  I 
Finally,  if  a  general  judgment,  in  any  form,  shall  take  place  after 
this  life,  it  does  not  follow  that  punishment  (much  less  endless 
punishment)  must  necessarily  be  any  part  of  its  consequences. 
It  were  far  more  probable — far  more  in  agreement  with  what  is 
disclosed  to  us  in  nature  and  revelation  of  the  boundlessness  of 
the  divine  mercy — that  the  object  of  such  judgment  will  be  to 
bring  the  purity  and  grace  of  God  into  greater  contrast  to  our  per- 
ceptions, with  our  wickedness  and  ingratitude  ;  and  thus,  whilst  at 
the  same  time  that  we  shall  obtain  the  deeper  conviction  of  our  un- 
worthiness,  we  shall  also  be  the  more  constrained  to  adore  that 
almighty  love  which  shall  consent  to  "cast  our  sins  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea."  (Mic.  vii.  19.)  We  are  not  without  ample 
bible  warrant  for  this  idea  of  a  general  judgment  and  its  objects. 
See  amongst  other  instances  to  this  point  the  following :  "  And 
not  as  it  was  by  one  that  sinned,  so  is  the  gift:  for  the  judgment 
was  by  one  to  condemnation,  but  the  free  gift  is  of  many  offences 
unto  justification.  For  if  by  one  man's  offence  death  reigned  by 
one;  much  more  they  which  receive  abundance  of  grace,  and  of 
the  gift  of  righteousness,  shall  reign  in  life  by  one,  Jesus  Christ: 
Therefore,  as  by  the  offence  of  one  judgment  came  upon  all  men 
to  condemnation  ;  even  so  by  the  righteousness  of  one  the  free  gift 
came  upon  all  men  unto  justification  of  life.  For  as  by  one  man's 
disobedience  many  were  made  sinners;  so  by  the  obedience  of 
one  shall  many  be  made  righteous.  Moreover,  the  law  entered, 
that  the  offence  might  abound  :  but  where  sin  abounded,  grace  did 
much  more  abound  ;  that  as  sin  had  reigned  unto  death,  even  so 
might  grace  reign  through  righteousness  unto  eternal  life,  by  Je- 
sus Christ  our  Lord.     (Rom.  v.  16 — 21.) 

I  have  before  observed,  that  the  verb  to  judge,  is  most  usually 
employed  in  the  scriptures  to  express  the  same  thing  as  the  verb 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  221 

to  govern.  Christ  is  considered  as  the  King  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment state,  or  gospel  kingdom ;  and  as  such  he  is  represented  as 
exercising  the  judicial  functions  of  government.  His  judgment 
shall  last  while  his  reign  lasts,  and  he  shall  only  "  reign  until  he 
hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet;"  "then  shall  the  Son  also 
himself  be  subject  unto  him  that  halh  put  all  things  under  him, 
that  God  may  be  all  in  all."  Now  it  is  most  strange,  on  the  part 
of  our  opponents,  that  they  make  the  exercise  of  his  judicial  au- 
thority to  begin  just  where  the  scriptures  make  his  regal  authority 
to  end  !  And  notwithstanding  the  plain  and  repeated  declarations 
of  the  bible,  that  he  "shall  execute  judgment  and  justice  in  the 
earth,''''  they  will  have  it  that  he  judges  men  for  their  good  and  evil 
actions,  not  in  time,  but  in  eternity. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED. 


OBJECTION  I 

There  are  two  texts  of  scripture  which  speak  expressly  of 
punishment  after  death — yea,  more,  after  the  resurrection  !  How 
will  universalism  stand  before  these  1  The  one  is  Daniel  xii.  2. 
"  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake, 
some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt." The  other  is  St.  John  v.  28,  29.  "  Marvel  not  at  this  :  for 
the  hour  is  coming,  in  the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear 
his  voice,  and  shall  come  forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto 
the  resurrection  of  life  ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  re- 
surrection of  damnation."  These  passages  are  parallel  in  their 
reference  and  signification.  Universalists,  I  know,  attempt  to 
give  them  a  figurative  application.  But  we  ought  ever  to  reject 
figurative  expositions  of  scripture,  except  expressly  warranted  by 
the  context,  or  except  a  passage  be  such  in  its  nature  as  to  ex- 
pressly require  a  departure  from  the  rules  of  literal  interpretation. 


It  is  granted  that  the  above  texts  are  parallel,  but  this  very  ad- 
mission is  fatal  to  the  objection ;  for  Christ  has  fixed  the  time  of 
Vol.  I — T  3 


223  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  event  to  which  they  refer,  at  the  period  of  the  overthrow  of 
the  Jewish  state,  and  so  indeed  has  the  prophet  likewise;  the  en- 
tire 12th  chapter  of  Daniel  is  occupied  with  predictions  relative  to 
this  subject.  I  allege  this  upon  the  highest  possible  authority,  viz, 
that  of  Jesus  Christ.  See  for  proof,  INIatt.  xxiv.  15 — 21.  The 
resurrection  spoken  of  by  Daniel  was  to  take  place  when  there 
should  be  "  a  time  of  trouble,  such  as  never  was  since  there  was 
a  nation,  even  to  that  same  time,"  when  God  should  "  have 
accomplished  to  scatter  the  power  of  the  holy  people" — when 
"  the  daily  sacrifice  should  be  taken  away,  and  the  abomination 
that  maketh  desolate  set  up."  But  when  were  these  events  to 
happen?  They  were  to  happen  when  the  Jewish  dispensation 
was  to  be  brought  to  a  close,  and  the  gospel  institution  to  be 
set  up  on  its  ruins.  The  Savior's  exposition  of  the  prophet,  in 
Matt.  xxiv.  leaves  us  no  ground  for  doubt  on  this  head.  Thus 
much  as  regards  the  time  of  this  resurrection,  which,  instead  of 
being  at  the  end  of  the  world,  as  our  opponents  think,  is  past,  by 
nearly  eighteen  centuries. 

Now  as  to  its  nature,  it  were  the  height  of  absurdity  to  suppose 
it  literal,  for  several  reasons.  1st.  We  have  no  account  in  histo- 
ry, sacred  or  civil,  of  a  literal  rising  of  all  men  from  their  graves, 
at  the  time  of  Jerusalem's  overthrow,  or  at  any  other  period. 
2d.  To  understand  it  literally  would  involve  consequences  absurd 
and  contradictory.  It  would  lead  to  the  result  that  all  mankind 
will  at  the  same  time  rise  to  life  and  to  damnation !  "They  that 
have  done  good  to  the  resurrection  of  life."  Is  there  a  single  hu- 
man being  who  has  not  done  good  '?  "  And  they  that  have  done 
evil  to  the  resurrection  of  damnation."  Is  there  a  human  being 
who  has  not  done  evil  ?  Take  this  passage  in  a  strict  sense,  then, 
and  you  have  the  monstrous  conclusion  that  all  shall  arise  to  life — 
and  all  shall  arise  to  damnation!  3d.  A  literal  rendering  of  these 
texts  would  establish  a  doctrine  at  variance  with  that  exhibited 
by  Paul  in  a  set  treatise  on  the  resurrection.  If  men  are  to  arise 
from  their  graves  in  a  morally  corrupt  and  dishonored  condition, 
what  meant  he  by  saying  of  our  body,  "it  is  sown  in  corruption, 
it  is  raised  in  incorruption — it  is  sown  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in 
glory — it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power  1"  Say  you 
that  he  spake  this  of  a  part  of  mankind  only?  No  such  thing, 
sir  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  says,  "  IN  CHRIST  shall  ALL  be  made 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  223 

alive."  (I  Cor.  xv.)  If  Paul  believed  that  mankind  would  con- 
sist, in  the  resurrection,  of  two  classes,  moral  opposites  to  each 
other,  here  is  the  place  where  he  would  have  said  so ;  but  he  es- 
tablishes the  contrary,  for  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  reconcile  the 
popular  doctrine  concerning  the  resurrection  with  the  glorious 
portraiture  of  that  great  event  which  the  apostle  has  here  given — 
the  last  enemy  vanquished — hades  overthrown — all  things  sub- 
dued unto  the  Father — and  God  all  in  all. 

But  another  reason,  and  sufficient  of  itself  for  understanding  the 
texts  under  consideration  in  a  spiritual  sense,  is,  that  the  immedi- 
ate connexion  of  the  one  in  St.  John  imperiously  calls  for  such 
an  acceptation.  Christ,  in  a  verse  or  two  preceding,  describes  the 
resurrection  referred  to  as  then  beginning  to  take  place.  "  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  hour  is  coming  and  now  is,  when  the 
dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God ;  and  they  that  hear 
shall  live."  And  through  the  chapter  he  speaks  of  life  and  con- 
demnation, as  a  then  present  consequence  of  embracing,  and  of  re- 
jecting the  gospel.  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  he  that  hear- 
eth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  him  that  sent  me,  hath  everlasting 
life,  and  shall  not  come  into  condemnation  ;  but  is  passed  from 
death  unto  life."  See  also  the  following  verse  to  the  same  effect : 
"  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead,  and  quickeneth  them, 
even  so  the  Son  quickeneth  whom  he  will."  It  is  any  thing  but 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  should  so  rapidly  pass  from  the 
figurative  to  the  literal  on  the  same  subject,  without  apprising  his 
hearers  of  his  change  of  style.  I  may  remark  further,  that  lan- 
guage quite  as  strong  as  either  of  our  texts  can  be  produced,  the 
figurative  meaning  of  which,  nevertheless,  is  too  obvious  to  be 
denied  ;  see  the  following  :  "  Then  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
these  bones  are  the  whole  house  of  Israel:  behold,  they  say.  Our 
bones  are  dried,  and  our  hope  is  lost ;  we  are  cut  off  for  our  parts. 
Therefore,  prophesy  and  say  unto  them,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God, 
Behold,  0  my  people,'  I  will  open  your  graves,  and  cause  you  to 
come  up  out  of  your  graves,  and  bring  you  into  the  land  of  Isreal. 
And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord,  when  I  have  opened  your 
graves,  O  my  people,  and  brought  you  up  out  of  your  graves, 
and  shall  put  my  Spirit  in  you,  and  ye  shall  live;  and  I  shall 
place  you  in  your  own  land  :  then  shall  ye  know  that  I  the  Lord 
have  spoken  it,  and  performed  it,  saith  the^LoRD."     (Ezekiel 


224  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

xxxvii.  11 — 14.)  In  this  place,  the  civil  and  moral  degradation 
of  the  Jews  are  set  forth  under  the  figure  of  iheir  death,  and  the 
perishing  of  the  flesh  from  off  their  bones.  Their  moral  and 
civil  restoration  are  exhibited  under  the  figure  of  opening  their 
graves  and  raising  them  to  life.  On  the  whole,  then,  it  must,  I 
think,  be  manifest  to  the  enlightened  reader,  that  the  import  of 
the  passages  before  us  is,  that  Christ,  by  the  word  of  his  gospel, 
and  the  ministry  of  his  apostles,  was  about  to  call  men  forth  from 
the  graves  of  superstition  and  ignorance,  in  which  they  had  long 
been  buried — that  as  they  came  forth  to  the  light  of  the  truth,  they 
should  experience  justification,  or  condemnation,  according  as 
their  past  actions  had  or  had  not  been  in  accordance  with  its  dic- 
tates, or  according  as  their  disposition  was  to  receive  or  reject  this 
gospel.  This  important  work  had  already  begun  in  Christ's  day, 
but  it  was  destined  soon  to  take  effect  upon  a  much  wider  scale, 
and,  eventually,  it  shall  be  universal  in  its  extent.  This  gospel 
would  affect  the  vicious  subject  of  its  awakening  power,  in  like 
manner  as  Paul  had  been  affected  by  the  law.  It  brought  home 
his  sins  to  his  conscience,  and  thereby  slew  him,  or  overthrew  his 
fancied  security.  (Rom.  vii.)  But  the  gospel  condemns  the  sin  that 
it  may  save  the  sinner. 

Observe,  now,  what  phraseology  the  apostles  were  accustomed 
to  employ:  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  the  dust, 
and  Christ  shall  give  thee  light."  (Ephes.  v.  14.)  "  You  hath  he 
quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sin."  (Ephes.  ii.  1.) 
"  If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  which  are 
above."  (Col.  iii.  1.)  Indeed,  the  world  was  considered  as  dead, 
and  buried  in  sin  and  superstitious  ignorance.  Hence,  the  neces- 
sity of  being  regenerated,  or  made  alive  again,  in  order  to  admis- 
sion into  the  kingdom,  or  church  of  Christ.  The  word  was  con- 
sidered as  having  a  regenerating,  a  revitalising  influence;  hence, 
Paul  tells  the  Corinthians,  "For  in  Christ  Jesus  I  have  begotten 
you  through  the  gospel."  (I  Cor.  iv.  15.)  It  were  needless,  I 
think,  to  attempt  making  the  subject  plainer ;  it  were  quite  suffi- 
cient to  insist,  that  Christ  could  not  have  meant  to  leach  the  doc- 
trine of  a  final  doom  upon  the  spirits  of  men  after  the  resurrec- 
tion, for  the  reason  that  a  calamity  so  terrible  would  infinitely 
exceed  in  magnitude  all  the  calamities  together  which  have  trans- 
pired since  time  began ;  whereas,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  the 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  225 

Savior  has  himself  declared,  that  as  great  a  tribulation  as  that 
attending  Jerusalem's  destruction  had  never  before  transpired 
since  the  beginning  of  the  creation,  "  NO,  NOR  EVER  SHALL 
BE." 

OBJECTION    II. 

"  Then  said  Jesus  again  unto  them,  I  go  my  way,  and  ye  shall 
seek  me,  and  shall  die  in  your  sins  :  whither  I  go,  ye  cannot  come." 
(St.  John  viii.  2L)  It  is  to  be  considered  in  this  objection,  1st. 
That  the  party  addressed  should  seek  Christ,  but  nevertheless  die 
in  their  sins ;  which  implies  that  they  should  not  find  the  Savior. 
2nd.  They  were  to  fail  of  ever  getting  to  heaven,  for  thither 
Christ  went,  and  "  whither  I  go,"  said  he,  "  ye  cannot  come." 
Each  of  these  considerations,  separately  considered,  seems  suffi- 
cient to  exclude  them  from  hope ;  but  together  they  present  a  bar- 
rier to  their  salvation  which  appears  insuperable. 

ANSWER. 

It  is  admitted  that  thousands,  yea,  millions,  fail  of  finding  the 
Savior  in  this  life ;  but  this  is  conceived  to  be  no  reason  why 
they  should  to  all  eternity  fail  of  salvation.  The  scriptures  ac- 
quaint us  with  but  one  way  of  access  to  the  Father,  and  that  is 
ly  Jesus  Christ.  The  Savior  positively  declares  there  is  no  other. 
We  have  every  reason  for  believing  that  ninety-nine  hundredths 
of  mankind,  including  infants  and  the  heathen,  die  without  a 
saving  acquaintance  with  Christ;  if  on  this  ground,  therefore,  we 
exclude  any  from  hope  forever,  all  must  be  so  excluded  for  the 
same  reason  ;  consequently,  this  part  of  the  objection,  if  it  prove 
any  thing,  proves  too  much.  It  does  so  for  another  reason.  I 
have  shown,  in  a  previous  part  of  this  work,  that  every  intelligent 
being  is  ultimately  to  be  made  acquainted  with  Christ,  and  to 
acknowledge  him  also,  "to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father;"  (Phil, 
ii.  9 — n.)  which  sufficiently  proves  that  the  opportunity  for 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  gospel  is  not  limited  to  the  term  of 
this  life;  and  also,  that  if  it  were  so  limited,  a  very,  very  small 
moiety  of  our  race  would  be  saved  ;  and  the  realms  of  hell  would 
be  peopled  by  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  mankind  !  The  main 
strength  of  the  objection,  therefore,  must  depend  on  the  clause, 
"  whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come.^^     But  before  this  can  be  admitted 


226  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

as  an  argument  in  proof  of  the  endless  ruin  of  those  to  whom  it 
was  addressed,  a  question  or  two  must  be  settled.  1st.  Did  the 
Savior  refer  to  the  realms  of  bliss  when  he  said,  whither  I  go  ? 
He  may  simply  have  alluded  to  his  death,  which  would  put  him 
beyond  the  reach  of  their  power.  2nd.  Granting  that  he  alluded 
to  the  realms  of  bliss,  does  it  follow  that  because  they  could  not 
then  follow  him,  they  never  should  do  so  1  But  what  is  most  fatal 
to  the  objection  is,  that  Christ  addressed  the  very  same  language 
to  his  own  apostles !  Are  they,  therefore,  to  fail  forever  of  getting 
to  heaven.  "  Little  children,  yet  a  little  while  I  am  with  you. 
Ye  shall  seek  me  :  and  as  I  said  uuto  the  Jews,  Whither  I  go,  ye 
cannot  come;  so  now  T  say  to  you."  (St.  John  xiii.  33.)  You 
perceive  that  he  not  merely  addressed  to  his  disciples  the  same 
language  as  is  urged  in  the  objection,  but  in  the  same  sense ; 
"  and  as  I  said  unto  the  Jews,  whither  I  go  ye  cannot  come,  so  now 
I  say  to  you.^^  Except,  then,  this  language  be  considered  as  war- 
ranting the  belief,  that  our  Lord's  own  apostles  shall  be  endlessly 
damned,  the  objection  before  us  has  no  weight. 

Great  use  has  been  made  of  it,  nevertheless ;  and  in  order  to 
increase  its  terrifying  power,  it  is  very  generally  altered  from  its 
true  reading ;  the  version  of  it  in  most  common  use  is  as  follows  : 
"If  ye  die  in  your  sins,  where  God  and  Christ  is  ye  never  can 
come."  I  doubt  not  that  in  tracts  and  religious  almanacs  it  is 
often  to  be  found  in  this  very  form,  but  these  with  me  have  not 
authority  quite  equivalent  to  the  bible. 


OBJECTION    III. 

"Wherefore  I  say  unto  you,  All  manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy 
shall  be  forgiven  unto  men;  but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men.  And  whosoever  speaketh 
a  word  against  the  Son  of  man,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him  :  but 
whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  for- 
given him,  neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the  world  to  come." 
(Matt.  xii.  31,  32.)  Mark's  version  of  this  matter  is  still  more 
decisive  against  the  Universalist  faith  ;  it  is  even  pretended  that 
Matthew's  rather  favors  it  than  otherwise  ;  "  for  (say  tlie  advocates 
of  a  future  limited  punishment)  the  very  declaration  that  this  par- 
ticular offence  shall  not  be  forgiven  in  the  world  to  come,  seems 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  227 

naturally  to  imply  that  all  other  sins  may ;  and  as  for  this, 
although  not  pardoned  in  the  present  nor  in  the  next  world,  (or 
cg6,  which  is  the  more  proper  reading)  it  yet  may  be  in  a  world 
or  age  still  subsequent,  for  the  scriptures  speak  of  a  plurality  of 
aeio7is  (worlds  or  ages)  to  come."  Now  the  text  as  it  stands  in 
Mark  cannot  be  evaded  in  this  way — it  there  reads  that  the  blas- 
phemer against  the  Holy  Spirit  "  hath  never  forgiveness."  Nor 
is  this  all ;  for  if  it  were,  it  might  still  be  pretended  that  nothing 
was  meant  more  than  that  the  blasphemer  shall  be  certainly  pun- 
ished to  the  full  amount,  and  after  that  he  might  be  exempt  as  a 
matter  of  right,  not  of  pardon;  in  like  manner  as  a  criminal  may 
come  out  of  prison  on  the  expiration  of  his  term,  and  the  law  can 
have  no  further  demands  against  him  for  that  offence.  But  the 
text  in  Mark  bars  this  evasion  also ;  it  declares  that  the  blasphe- 
mer against  the  Holy  Spirit  "  is  in  danger  of  eternal  damnation." 
How  now  will  this  objection  be  met? 

ANSWER. 

Not  very  easily,  reader,  I  grant,  for  you  have  presented  it  in 
the  most  formidable  shape  possible ;  it  can  be  met,  nevertheless, 
and  satisfactorily  too,  I  trust.  1st.  Drs.  Campbell,  Clarke,  Mc- 
Knight,  and  Lightfoot,  though  believers  in  endless  misery,  have 
decided  that  the  phrase,  "neither  in  this  world,  neither  in  the 
world  to  come,"  is  not  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  present 
and  the  future  states  of  man  ;  but  to  the  then  present  dispensa- 
tion, (the  Mosaic)  and  that  which  was  about  to  succeed  it.  (the 
Christian.)  The  Methodist  commentator  is  decidedly  of  opinion 
that  the  punishment  for  this  offence  was  to  be  of  a  temporal  char- 
acter ;  and  that  in  the  declaration  that  it  should  not  be  forgiven, 
Christ  intended  nothing  more  than  to  rank  it  with  the  highest 
class  of  offences  under  the  law,  which  were  punished  with  death, 
and  for  which  nothing  but  death  would  atone.  But  there  is  no 
evidence  in  either  case,  he  thinks,  that  the  punishment  was  to 
extend  to  the  soul  of  the  offender  in  another  life.  None,  indeed, 
(as  he  remarks)  could  commit  this  particular  sin,  save  those  who, 
witnessing  with  their  senses  the  performance  of  his  miracles, 
imputed  them  to  demoniacal  influence.  2nd.  As  to  the  phrase 
"  eternal  damnation,"  it  must  be  confessed  a  very  strong — a  too 
strong  rendering  of  the  Greek  text ;  it  may  bear  it,  indeed,  but  it 


228  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

is  not  in  keeping  with  the  context.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
word  damnation  comes  from  a  term  which  is  susceptible  of  vari- 
ous interpretations,  and  which  actually  is  in  other  places  rendered 
sometimes  judgment^  sometimes  condemnation  ,•  these,  it  is  true, 
are  strictly  as  strong  in  meaning  as  is  the  term  damnation^  but 
they  are  not  so  considered  in  ordinary  usage;  to  the  word  damna- 
tion a  terrible  significance  has  been  attached,  which  neither  its 
etymology  nor  scripture  authority  will  justify.  The  term  eternal, 
too,  comes  from  a  Greek  word  of  very  equivocal  signification ;  it 
sometimes  means  a  limited,  sometimes  unlimited  duration ;  some- 
times a  definite  period,  as  the  duration  of  human  life ;  sometimes 
an  indefinite  period,  as  during  the  continuance  of  an  existing 
state  or  order  of  things ;  in  this  last  sense  it  is  employed  in  the 
passage  before  us — "  neither  in  this  aeion,  neither  in  the  seion  to 
come;"  that  is,  neither  in  the  Mosaic  age,  neither  in  the  age  of 
the  Messiah.  It  cannot  here  mean  eternity,  for  it  were  nonsense 
to  talk  of  a  plurality  of  eternities  ;  hence,  I  have  said  that  the  ren- 
dering of  the  original  here  by  the  phrase  eternal  damnation,  is  too 
strong,  and  not  in  keeping  with  the  context ;  it  might  with  more 
propriety  have  been  rendered,  the  condemnation  of  the  age^  a  phrase 
sufficiently  awful  in  its  meaning,  when  we  come  to  know  the 
dreadful  and  complicated  calamities  which  impended  over  the 
heads  of  that  wicked  generation,  and  in  these,  those  blaspheming 
Jews,  who  imputed  to  demoniacal  agency  the  works  which  Christ 
performed  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  were  doomed  to  experience  their 
full  share. 

Thus  is  this  objection  disposed  of,  without  the  least  violence, 
as  I  think,  to  either  of  the  texts  containing  it.  Many  weak  per- 
sons (as  Dr.  Clarke  observes)  are  apt  to  be  thrown  into  terror, 
oftentimes  despair,  by  the  persuasion  that  they  have  committed 
this  unpardonable  sin;  and  that,  therefore,  the  irrevocable  sen- 
tence of  eternal  damnation  has  gone  forth  against  them.  How 
much  superfluous  misery  has  been  entailed  upon  mankind  by  false 
views  of  God,  and  by  false  interpretations  of  scripture  !  And  is 
it  not  unaccountable,  reader,  that  we  should  rest  so  contentedly  in 
views  so  contradictory,  that  whilst  we  admit  the  divine  mercy  to 
be  infinite,  we  nevertheless  suppose  there  are  cases  of  sin  entirely 
Veyond  its  reach  ! ! ! 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  229 

OBJECTION    IV. 

**The  Son  of  man  goeth  as  it  is  written  of  him :  but  woe  unto 
that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed !  it  had  been  good 
for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born."  (Matt.  xxvi.  24.)  This 
is  said  respecting  Judas,  and  it  amounts  to  a  strong  argument 
against  Universalism,  because,  whatever  might  be  the  poignancy 
of  Judas'  sufferings  for  this  offence,  or  whatever  its  duration, 
even  though  it  extended  to  a  thousand  millions  of  ages,  yet  if  it 
eventually  come  to  an  end,  and  be  succeeded  by  an  eternity  of 
bliss,  he  will  still  be  the  gainer  by  his  existence ;  and  the  declara- 
tion, that  it  were  good  for  him  to  have  not  been  born,  will  not  in 
that  case  hold  true.  The  probability  against  the  ultimate  salva- 
tion of  Judas,  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  Christ  calls  him  "  a 
devil,"  (John  vi.  70.)  also  by  the  fact  that  he  came  to  his  end  by 
self-destruction.  "  And  he  cast  down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the 
temple,  and  departed,  and  went  and  hanged  himself."  (Matt, 
xxvii.  5.)  Moreover,  the  rest  of  the  apostles,  in  solemn  supplica- 
tion, intimated  his  final  fate  in  very  significant  language.  "  That 
he  may  take  part  of  this  ministry  and  apostleship,  from  which 
Judas  by  transgression  fell,  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place." 
(Acts  i.  25.)  And  in  addition  to  all  this,  Christ  declares  him  to 
be  lost^  and  he  calls  him  "  the  son  of  perdition."  "  While  I  was 
with  them  in  the  world,  I  kept  them  in  thy  name  :  those  that  thou 
gavest  me  I  have  kept,  and  none  of  them  is  lost,  but  the  son  of 
perdition  ;  that  the  scripture  might  be  fulfilled."  (John  xvii.  12.) 
All  these  circumstances  together,  it  must  be  admitted,  make  out 
a  very  strong  probability  against  the  ultimate  salvation  of  Judas. 

ANSWER. 

They  seem  to  do  so,  indeed,  my  friendly  objector,  as  you  have 
marshalled  them.  I  think,  nevertheless,  that  he  may  be  extricated 
from  that  disagreeable  predicament  without  any  unfair  means. 
1st.  Be  it  known,  that  the  declaration  about  it  being  good  for  him 
not  to  have  been  born,  was  but  a  common  proverbial  expression 
amongst  the  Jews  upon  all  calamitous  occasions.  "  And  Job  spake 
and  said.  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  born,  and  the  night  in 
which  it  was  said,  There  is  a  man  child  conceived."  (Job  iii.  2, 3.) 
"  Cursed  be  the  day  wherein  I  was  born  ;  let  not  the  day  wherein 
my  mother  bare  me  be  blessed."  (Jer.  xx.  14.)   "  If  a  man  beget 

Vol.  I.— U 


230  PRO  AND  CON  OF  IJNIEVRSALISM. 

a  hundred  children,  and  live  many  years,  so  that  the  days  of  his 
years  be  many,  and  his  soul  be  not  filled  with  good,  and  also  that 
he  have  no  burial ;  I  say,  that  an  untimely  birth  is  better  than 
he."  (Eccles.  vi.  3.)  Dr.  Clarke  produces  several  instances  from 
Schoetgen  to  the  same  effect.  I  will  give  a  few  of  these  only. 
*'  Whoever  considers  these  four  things,  it  would  have  been  better 
for  him  had  he  never  come  into  the  world;  that  which  is  above, 
that  which  is  below,  that  which  is  before,  that  which  is  behind  ; 
and  whosoever  does  not  attend  to  the  honor  of  his  creator,  it  were 
better  for  him  had  he  never  been  born.''''  chagigah.  "  Whosoever 
knows  the  law,  and  does  not  do  it,  it  had  been  better  for  him  had 
he  never  come  into  the  uwrld.'"  shemath  rabba.  "  If  any  man  be 
parsimonious  toward  the  poor,  it  had  been  better  for  him  had  he 
never  come  into  the  world.''''  "  If  any  performs  the  law  for  the 
sake  of  the  law,  it  were  good  for  that  man  had  he  never  been  cre- 
ated." SAHAR  GENES.  The  words  in  small  capitals  are  the  titles 
of  several  Jewish  writings.  "These  examples  sufficiently  prove 
(I  am  quoting  Dr.  Clarke)  that  this  was  a  common  proverb,  and 
was  used  with  a  great  variety  and  latitude  of  meaning."  Christ, 
however,  does  not  say  it  were  good  for  Judas  NEVER  to  have 
been  born,  but  simply,  if  he  had  not  been  born  ,•  that  is,  we  may 
reasonably  suppose,  if  he  had  not  been  born  that  particular  per- 
son, or  at  that  particular  time,  or  to  that  particular  end  of  betray- 
ing his  master.  If  it  were  better  for  him  NEVER  to  have  been 
born,  the  goodness  of  his  creator  is  seriously  impeached  in  having 
conferred  an  existence  which  he  foresaw  would  prove  an  infinite 
curse  to  its  possessor  !  That  God,  who  "  is  good  unto  all,"  was 
also  good  unto  Judas,  those  tender  mercies  which  "  are  over  all 
his  works,"  must  also  have  been  over  him ;  but  this  could  by  no 
means  have  been  the  case  if  he  was  brought  into  being  with  the 
foresight  that  he  should  eternally  be  the  loser  thereby. 

But  Christ  calls  Judas  a  devil,  and  this,  you  think,  strengthens 
the  probability  against  his  salvation.  Your  brain  is  probably  mys- 
tified in  regard  to  this  particular,  by  the  supposition  that  by  the 
word  devil,  is  meant  an  abandoned,  fallen  spirit  of  the  infernal 
pit;  but,  as  I  have  elsewhere  shown,  this  is  an  unauthorized  defi- 
nition of  the  term.  You  believe  in  Peter's  salvation,  and  him 
the  Savior  calls  Satan.  (Matt.  xvi.  23.)  I  see  not  why  one  devil 
may  not  be  saved  as  well  as  another. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  231 

Again,  Judas  is  called  the  son  of  perdition,  and  is  said  to  be 
lost.  True,  his  treachery  proved  the  cause  of  his  temporal  de- 
struction, or  perdition,  (for  the  terms  are  synonymous)  and 
the  circumstances  of  his  death  appear  to  have  been  very  igno- 
minious and  painful ;  this  fact  would,  according  to  the  usages 
of  speech  in  those  days,  fully  justify  the  Savior's  calling  him 
the  son  of  perdition.  As  to  his  being  lost,  there  is  no  proof  that 
any  thing  more  is  meant,  than  that  he  was  lost  to  Christ  as  an 
apostle i  the  context  clearly  favors  this  inference;  the  Savior  had 
kept  together  all  whom  the  Father  had  given  him  for  disciples, 
save  that  one.  In  this  particular  sense  Judas  was  lost;  to  consider 
him  as  lost  in  a  moral  sense,  however,  would  but  be  to  include 
him  amongst  those  whom  Christ  came  to  seek  and  to  save.  And 
it  must  be  further  remembered  that  nothing  is  to  be  so  lost,  as  not 
to  be  recovered  again  "at  the  last  day."  (John  vi.  39.) 

"  That  he  might  go  to  his  own  place,"  and  that  place,  oh,  sapient 
reader,  you  are  pleased  to  think,  was  the  infernal  regions!  Ex- 
tremely modest  it  was,  I  must  needs  say,  for  the  eleven  apostles  to 
tell  the  almighty  Jehovah,  that  the  deep  abodes  of  hell  was  the  ap- 
propriate place  for  one  of  his  intelligent  offspring,  and  a  former 
companion  of  theirs !  If  they  had  been  certified  that  God  had 
created  that  place  for  Judas,  and  him  for  it,  they  might  have 
called  it  his  "  own  place"  with  some  propriety ;  but  in  the  ab- 
sence of  such  assurance,  it  were  a  stretch  of  presumption  amount- 
ing to  blasphemy.  It  must  be  evident  to  the  candid  reader,  that 
the  passage  in  our  version  needs  a  transposition,  which  will  transfer 
the  applicability  of  the  words  in  question  from  Judas  to  Mathias, 
who  succeeded  him  in  the  apostleship,  "  that  he  might  go  to  his 
own  place,  from  which  Judas  by  transgression  fell." 

It  may  well  be  doubted  if  Judas  died  by  his  own  act;  the  ori- 
ginal represents  him  as  having  strangled  himself.  There  are  other 
modes  of  strangling  besides  hanging;  and  a  man  may  strangle 
himself  otherwise  than  by  a  voluntary  act;  Judas  may  have  suf- 
focated with  excessive  grief,  for  his  grief  was  excessive.  The 
account  of  his  hanging  does  not  consist  with  that  which  Peter 
gives  of  his  death — "and  falling  headlong  he  bust  asunder  in  the 
midst,  and  all  his  bowels  gushed  out."  (Acts  i.  18.)  The  law  of 
gravitation  behooves  to  be  subverted,  before  a  person  suspended 
bj  the  neck  can  fall  headlong !    Dr.  Lightfoot,  however,  jumps 


233  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

over  the  philosophical  difficulty  in  the  case,  by  supposing  that 
the  devil  may  have  snatched  Judas  from  the  gallows  and  dashed 
him  to  the  ground.  Ah,  it  is  easy  accounting  for  the  greatest  mar- 
vels where  the' devil  is  concerned.  On  the  whole,  there  is  really 
nothing  in  the  case  of  Judas  which,  on  close  examination,  amounts 
to  an  argument  against  universal  salvation;  nor  is  there  any  thing 
which  is  not  susceptible  of  an  easy  explication  in  agreement  with 
the  fact  of  his  eventual  redemption. 


OBJECTION    V. 

"  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  born  again, 
he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God."  (John  iii.  3.)  "  Know  ye 
not  that  the  unrighteous  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  I 
Be  not  deceived  :  neither  fornicators,  nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers, 
nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers  of  themselves  with  mankind ;  nor 
thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunkards,  nor  revilers,  nor  extortion- 
ers, shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God."  (1  Cor.  vi.  9,  10.)  It 
would  really  seem,  in  this  last  passage,  that  the  great  apostle  had 
the  universalist  heresy  in  his  eye,  and  that  he  penned  this  lan- 
guage w4th  the  express  intention  of  guarding  the  church  to  whom 
he  wrote  against  it.  "  Be  not  deceived  ;"  let  none  persuade  you 
that  the  good  and  the  bad,  with  faith  and  without  it,  the  man  of 
prayer  and  the  blasphemer,  are  all  to  attain  at  last  to  celestial 
blessedness  ;  no,  no,  I  tell  yoii  that  the  righteous  only  shall  in- 
herit the  kingdom  of  God. 

ANSWER. 

I  have  had  several  previous  occasions  to  observe,  in  this  work, 
that  the  phrases,  "kingdom  of  God,"  and  "kingdom  of  heaven," 
are  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  world  of  celestial  bliss;  they  are 
never  so  used  in  the  scriptures.  I  have  given  some  proofs  of  this ; 
take  a  few  more.  "  And  when  he  was  demanded  of  the  Pharisees 
when  the  kingdom  of  God  should  come,  he  answered  them,  and 
said,  The  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation.  Neither 
shall  they  say,  Lo  here  !  or,  lo  there  !  for,  behold,  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  within  you."  (Luke  xvii.  20,  21.)  "  For  the  kingdom 
of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink  ;  but  righteousness  and  peace,  and 
joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  (Rom.  xiv.  17.)  "  But  woe  unto  you, 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites !  for  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom  of 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBji:CTIONS  CONSIDERED.  233 

heaven  against  men  ;  for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves,  neither  suffer 
ye  them  that  are  er)tering  to  go  in."  (Matt,  xxiii.  13.)  These 
are  but  a  specimen  of  very  many  proofs,  that  by  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  of  heaven,  is  meant,  the  gospel  institution  in  the  world  ; 
when  it  was  about  to  be  ushered  in,  men  were  told  that  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  was  at  hand,  &c.  Now,  it  has  long  been  the  pre- 
valent error  with  christians,  in  regard  to  this  subject,  that  they 
have  confounded  this  kingdom  with  that  of  celestial  glory  beyond 
the  grave.  Nicodemus  was  a  Jew ;  his  habits,  and  modes  of 
thinking,  his  prejudices,  were  all  Jewish  ;  he  was  told  that  in  order 
to  become  a  subject  of  the  gospel  institution,  he  *'  must  be  born 
again,"  must  undergo  a  moral  renovation,  must  cease  to  act,  and 
think,  and  worship  as  a  Jew,  and  begin  anew  to  graduate  in  the 
science  of  religion  at  the  feet  of  Christ.  An  individual  who  has 
had  his  birth  and  education,  and  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his 
life  in  a  despotic  country,  must  needs  be  born  again  ere  he  caa 
appreciate  the  blessings  of  a  free  government.  A  person  in  a 
savage  state  is  not  prepared  to  be  ushered  at  once  into  civilized 
life ;  he  must  first  be  prepared  for  the  transition  by  an  education  of 
his  mind,  sentiments,  and  habits.  So  it  is  in  regard  to  religion; 
ere  we  can  appreciate  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  kingdom,  we 
must  obtain  a  mastery  over  our  evil  passions  and  appetites  ;  we 
must  cultivate  and  cherish  those  dispositions  and  tempers  which 
will  assimilate  us  to  Jesus  Christ;  w-e  must  cease  to  do  evil  and 
learn  to  do  well.  Paul  saith  truly,  that  no  murderer,  fornicator, 
or  the  like,  can  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  this  truth  was  new  to 
such  as  had  been  converted  to  the  belief  in  Christ,  from  the  various 
heathen  superstitions ;  they  had  been  accustomed  to  regard  many 
vices  as  not  only  consistent  with  religion,  but  as  actual  virtues. 
I  need  not  inform  my  intelligent  readers  that  the  very  worship  of 
most  of  the  pagan  deities  was  often  associated  with  acts  of  a  most 
vicious  and  repulsive  nature.  In  reading  the  apostolic  epistles, 
we  find  they  had  much  trouble  to  indoctrinate  the  early  converts 
into  the  knowledge  of  that  pure  and  elevated  system  of  faith  and 
morals,  which  constituted  the  religion  of  Christ,  the  kingdom  of 
God,  or  of  heaven,  into  which  nothing  that  is  unclean,  or  unholy, 
can  enter;  which  is  as  chaste  "as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  hus- 
band." We  may  easily  comprehend,  then,  (without  supposing  a 
caution  against  universalism  to  be  intended,)  why  Paul  warned 
Vol.  I.— u  2 


234  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALTSM. 

the  Corinthians  against  the  delusive  supposition,  that  the  nnright- 
ecus  could  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  as  though  he  had  said, 
"  Be  not  deceived  on  this  head,  ray  brethren  ;  Christianity  is  quite 
a  different  institution  from  those  of  which  you  were  formerly  the 
subjects ;  they  allowed  in  you  many  things  which  are  wicked  and 
abominable,  but  it  requires  in  its  subjects  the  utmost  attainable 
purity  of  thought,  of  conversation,  of  life ;  and  it  utterly  refuses  to 
lend  its  countenance  to  any  thing  of  a  contrary  nature." 

But  here  arises  a  question.  "  Since  such  are  the  requirements 
of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth,  can  we  reasonably  expect  that  the 
unrighteous  will  be  admitted  into  that  more  glorious  kingdom  in 
heaven?"  No.  Neither  can  we  reasonably  expect  that  the  utmost 
holiness  to  which  w^e  can  attain  while  we  inherit  flesh  and  blood, 
will  qualify  us  for  admission  there;  if  divine  grace  must  needs 
effect  a  preparation  in  the  worst  of  sinners  for  that  blest  abode,  so 
must  it  also  in  the  best;  let  the  christian  who  has  the  immodesty 
to  question  this,  learn  to  know  himself  better.  Is  he  never  sensible 
to  the  presence  of  anger  in  his  bosom  ?  of  envy,  jealousy,  discon- 
tent, revenge,  malice  ?  Does  he  think  to  carry  these  dispositions 
to  heaven  with  him  %  How  much  difference  in  these  respects, 
on  a  candid  comparison  of  himself  with  others,  {same  there  unde- 
niably is,  but  how  much  ?)  does  he  find  in  his  own  favor  %  It  is 
quite  a  plain  case  that  the  christian  needs  a  preparation  for  heaven 
as  well  as  the  sinner ;  the  difference  is,  that  in  the  former  it  is 
begun  on  earth,  in  the  latter  it  is  not ;  but  to  infinite  grace  the 
counteraction  of  the  greatest  guilt  is  equally  possible  as  that  of  the 
least. 

To  speak  of  salvation  to  an  individual  in  a  state  of  guilt,  is  to 
speak  nonsense;  it  is  an  absurdity  in  terms,  for  what  is  salvation 
but  a  deliverance  from  guilt;  saved  from  it,  we  are  saved  from 
misery,  {moral  misery  I  mean,)  for  where  guilt  is,  and  there  only, 
is  misery — in  the  heaven  of  heavens  as  in  the  heart  of  hell.  Let 
none  charge  us,  then,  with  the  teaching  that  all  mankind  are  to 
be  made  happy  in  heaven  without  a  previous  preparation  for  it. 
We  differ  from  others  in  believing  that  all  tuzV/ eventually  be  so 
prepared  ;  some  of  those  to  whom  Paul  wrote,  had  been  such  char- 
acters as  he  specifies  as  not  admissible  to  the  church  or  kingdom 
of  Christ;  but  they  had  ceased  from  their  former  evil  practices, 
and  had  become  the  denizens  of  that  kingdom.    (1  Cor.  vi.  11.) 


MISCELLANEOTIS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  235 

A   METAPHYSICAL    ARGUMENT    FOR    ENDLESS    MISERY 
CONSIDERED. 

Sometime  since  I  attended  divine  service  at  the  Second  Presby- 
terian church,  Cincinnati,  and  heard  a  discourse  from  the  pastor, 
Dr.  Beecher.  Its  subject  was  the  reasonableness  of  endless  misery, 
and  its  consistency  with  the  divine  goodness.  Dr.  B.  is  president  of 
the  Lane  Seminary,  and  an  ecclesiastic  of  very  high  reputation 
for  learning  and  talents.  Let  us  see  what  a  gentleman  of  his 
calibre  can  do  in  a  case  of  such  difficulty.  The  followiDg  are  the 
strong  points  in  the  discourse  referred  to. 

"  1st.  God  had  a  right  to  create  minds,  and  it  was  benevolent 
in  him  to  do  so."  Granted.  "2nd.  God  had  a  right  to  institute 
laws  for  the  government  of  minds  so  created."  This  too  is 
granted.  "  3d.  He  had  a  right  to  guard  his  law  by  retributive 
sanctions."  Very  good.  "  4th.  The  system  of  government  so 
instituted  must  last  forever,  for  the  same  reasons  will  operate  to 
keep  it  up  which  led  at  the  first  to  its  institution ;  and  as  its 
rewards  and  punishments  are  an  essential  part  of  the  system,  they 
must  endure  to  eternity.  Endless  misery  results  of  course."  And 
if  it  does,  endless  reward  results  of  course  also,  and  what  then  be- 
comes of  the  scriptural  doctrine  of  salvation  by  grace  1  It  goes  by 
the  root  before  this  metaphysical  axe  of  the  Doctor's ;  eternal  life, 
instead  of  being  the  gift  of  God,  will  be  but  a  legal  consequence 
of  obedience  to  the  divine  government !  But  endless  misery  does 
not  result ;  the  Doctor's  logic  is  purblind  here.  Suppose  the 
criminal  code  of  a  land  to  last  for  a  thousand  years ;  does  it  fol- 
low that  each  transgressor  under  it  must  endure  its  penal  inflic- 
tions for  so  long]  That  judge  would  be  thought  a  whimsical 
expounder  of  the  law,  I  fancy,  who,  finding  the  legal  punishment 
for  theft  to  be  imprisonment,  should,  upon  that  ground,  take  it 
into  his  head  that  the  culprit  must  be  confined  for  so  long  as  that 
statute  should  remain  unaltered,  if  even  to  a  hundred  centuries! 
Moreover,  if  we  allow  the  Doctor's  consequence,  on  what  basis 
will  rest  his  own  hopes  of  eternal  blessedness?  He  has  violated 
the  law — its  penalties  are  irrevocable,  and  therefore^  (as  he  thinks,) 
eternal !  We  call  a  man  a  good  logician  who  can  prove  all  he 
wishes  to  prove ;  what  may  we  call  him  who  can  prove  a  great 
deal  more  1 


236  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

To  reconcile  endless  misery  with  the  divine  benevolence,  the 
Doctor  had  recourse  to  two  illustrations ;  the  first  was  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect.  A  legislative  body  compose  a  code  of  laws  for  a 
particular  realm ;  all  their  enactments  are  made  with  express 
reference  to  the  public  welfare;  but  in  order  to  effect  a  result 
which  shall  be  best  on  the  whole,  and  for  the  generality,  they  find 
it  absolutely  necessary  to  append  the  penalties  of  perpetual  im- 
prisonment, and  even  a  forfeiture  of  life  in  certain  cases;  where- 
upon an  individual  among  them  remonstrates — "Take  care  what 
you  do,  (he  exclaims,)  these  penalties  may  come  to  bear  upon  some 
ofyourselves,  your  children,  or  your  children's  children  ;  therefore, 
be  cautious  how  you  proceed,  for  by  this  act  you  may  possibly  be 
sealing  your  own  doom,  or  theirs."  "  What  shall  be  done  now  1" 
(enquired  the  Doctor.)  "  Either  the  good  of  the  whole  public 
must  be  left  unguarded  through  an  overweening  tenderness  to- 
ward a  comparatively  few  abandoned  individuals,  or  they  must  be 
sacrificed  to  the  general  interest ;  which  shall  we  prefer  ?" 

This  comparison  betwixt  a  legislature  and  the  deity  is  far  more 
plausible  than  just;  for  no  difficulties  of  the  kind  here  supposed 
arise  in  God's  way ;  he  is  never  reduced  to  a  choice  between  two 
or  more  evils ;  it  is  as  perfectly  in  his  power  to  secure  the  ultimate 
good  of  the  whole  as  of  a  part ;  if  I  doubted  this  in  regard  to 
every  individual  part  composing  that  whole,  I  should  equally 
doubt  it  in  regard  to  any.  I  wish  our  opponents  would  tell  us  at 
once  whether  they  do  or  do  not  deny  the  divine  omnipotence ;  for 
if  they  do  not,  why  are  they  perpetually  nibbling  at  it  with  this 
species  of  sophisiry  ?  But  why  do  I  speak  of  his  power?  His 
wisdom  and  benevolence  are  equally  crippled  by  this  sort  of  com- 
parisons. He  cannot  frame  a  system  of  government,  it  would 
seem,  which  will  not  subject  him  to  the  hard  necessity  of  forego- 
ing the  claims  of  benevolence  with  regard  to  some  of  his  crea- 
tures, out  of  respect  to  the  well-being  of  the  greater  number! 

The  Doctor's  other  illustration  was  less  hacknied;  I  know  not 
but  it  originated  v*ith  himself.  It  was,  in  substance,  as  follows: 
"  Suppose  that  before  the  work  of  creation  was  begun,  the  Almighty 
had  anticipated  it,  by  at  once  calling  into  momentary  existence  all 
the  intelligences  whom  he  contemplated  ever  to  create,  in  order  to 
obtain  their  vote  upon  the  question  whether  they  would  prefer  to 
6e,  (subject  to  all  the  liabilities  of  being,  which  are  contemplated 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTIONS  CONSIDERED.  237 

by  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery,)  or  to  return  to  non-existence, 
and  to  remain  non-existent  forever."  "  I  foresee  (the  Creator  tells 
them,)  that  some  of  you  will  violate  my  laws,  and  subject  your- 
selves to  my  eternal  displeasure;  but  this  will  result  from  no 
decree  or  purpose  of  mine,  but  from  the  incurable  perverseness  of 
such  individuals  themselves,  in  despite  of  all  the  efforts  of  my 
goodness  to  prevent  it.  Will  you,  then,  that  I  prosecute  my  pur- 
pose of  creating  you,  to  live  forever,  and  subject  to  the  risk  (which 
shall  only  be  realized  in  regard  to  a  comparative  few)  that  your 
being  shall  be  rendered  eternally  miserable  by  disobedience ;  or 
shall  I  abandon  my  purpose,  forgo  my  benevolent  plan,  with  all 
the  incalculable  amount  of  enjoyment  to  millions  of  millions 
which  shall  result  therefrom,  merely  out  of  regard  to  the  relatively 
small  quantity  of  misery  which  is  unavoidably  incident  to  it]" 
The  universal  vote  in  such  a  case  would  have  been,  (as  the  Doc- 
tor thinks,)  "  Create  us ;  we  will  prefer  to  exist  and  take  the  risk, 
rather  than  to  continue  in  eternal  nothingness ;  and  if  any  of  us 
shall  be  so  ungrateful  as  to  violate  our  obligations  to  thy  good- 
ness, and  so  perverse  as  to  rush  through  every  obstacle  of  thy 
grace  down  to  final  ruin,  we  shall  deserve  the  result,  and  we  con- 
sent to  abide  it — let  us  live !" 

My  dear  reader,  I  trust  you  are  not  such  a  dolt  as  to  be 
unable  to  perceive  the  fallacy  in  the  above  case;  it  consists,  you 
must  see,  in  supposing  Jehovah  reduced  to  the  alternative  of 
either  creating  some  beings  for  final  misery,  or  not  creating  them 
at  all  !  If  this  is  not  absurdity,  essential,  quintessential  absurdity, 
then  is  there  no  such  thing  in  the  universe.  Moreover,  it  is  very 
doubtful  if  that  assemblage  of  intelligences  would,  in  the  case 
supposed,  have  rendered  any  such  vote,  even  allowing  the  propo- 
sition to  have  been  presented  in  the  soft  and  guarded  terms  which 
the  Doctor  has  employed.  But  how,  according  to  his  doctrine, 
stands  the  reality '?  Certainly  far  less  favorably  than  here  repre- 
sented. From  the  state  of  human  society  since  the  lapse  of  our 
first  parents  down  to  present  times,  (6000  years)  I  am  warranted 
in  saying,  that  if  the  notion  of  endless  misery  be  true,  ninety-nine 
hundredth's  of  mankind  will  be  eternally  lost!  Would  a  multi- 
tude of  beings  deserve  to  be  called  intelligent,  who  should  con- 
sent to  accept  of  existence  in  view  of  any  result  approximating 
this  1     Would  the  Doctor  himself  consent  to  be  the  parent  of  any 


238  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

given  number  of  children,  out  of  which  a  proportion,  answering  to 
that  of  the  human  family  which  shall  sink  to  eternal  woe,  should 
certainly  be  lost,  ruined,  abandoned  to  suffering  and  to  infamy,  for- 
ever and  ever  1  Let  him  deliberately  and  conscientiously  respond 
to  this  question,  ere  he  again  depicts  his  Creator's  character  in 
the  hues  of  his  dark  and  repulsive  theology. 


MILLENNIAL    HYMN. 

Oh  Zion,  arise !  in  thy  glory  appear, 

Thy  garments  of  beauty  put  on, 
For  the  time  of  the  singing  of  birds  now  is  near, 
And  the  voice  of  the  turtle  already  we  hear — 

Thy  winter  is  over  and  gone. 

Too  long  have  the  harps  of  thine  exiles  been  mute, 

And  sad  on  the  willows  have  hung; 
For  they  said,  "  in  the  land  of  the  stranger-pollute — 
Where  we  sow'd  in  despair — reap'd  in  anguish  the  fruit- 
How  can  anthems  of  Zion  be  sungl" 

But  the  time  long  foretold  by  thy  prophets  is  near, 

Kise  !  rise !  for  its  dawning  we  see, 
When  thine  exiles,  redeem'd,  shall  in  Zion  appear. 
And  the  hand  of  Jehovah  shall  wipe  every  tear, 

And  sighing  and  sorrow  shall  flee. 

No  more,  then,  forever  thy  sun  shall  go  down, 

Thy  moon  hide  its  brightness  no  more; 
For  God  with  the  bliss  of  his  presence  shall  crown, 
That  world  on  which  darkness  and  sin  never  frown: 
No  night  ever  visits  that  shore. 

\lready  the  Gentiles  are  flocking  to  thee, 

To  share  thy  salvation  they  come, 
From  the  ends  of  the  earth,  from  the  isles  of  the  sea; 
All  kindreds  and  nations  thy  converts  shall  be, 

And  no  more  in  transgression  shall  roam. 

Oh  hail,  thou  blest  season  !  thou  era  of  gold  ! 

Thy  beauties  our  bosoms  inspire  ; 
Thy  glory  shall  snon  in  its  fulness  unfold ; 
All  flesh  the  salvation  of  God  shall  behold. 

And  sin,  death,  and  sorrow,  expire. 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  239 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENT, 

ITS  NATURE,  ENDS,  AND  CERTAINTY,  HARMONIZED  WITH  THE 
SCRIPTURE  DOCTRINE  OF  FORGIVENESS. 

"  One  of  the  most  absurd  features  of  the  Universalian  system," 
(once  remarked  a  respectable  minister  to  me,  in  a  conversation  on 
these  subjects,)  ♦'  is  the  notion,  that  in  the  divine  economy,  sin  is 
never  forgiven,  in  the  sense  implying  an  exemption  from  deserved 
punishment !  You  nevertheless  (continued  he)  affect  to  believe  in 
the  scripture  doctrine  of  pardon  upon  the  term  of  repentance  ;  but 
how  sin  can  be  pardoned,  and  at  the  same  time  punished,  I  con- 
fess, surpasses  my  comprehension  !"  And  yet,  reader,  there  is 
no  real  solecism  in  this  case.  We  are  constantly  witnessing  facts 
which  confirm  the  theory,  that  to  pardon  an  offence,  and  yet  to 
punish  it,  are  acts  not  incompatible  with  each  other.  The  case 
of  Mr.  B.  is  in  point;  gambling  was  his  besetting  vice;  he  lost 
at  the  gaming  table  the  whole  of  his  once  large  estate ;  but  he  has 
become  a  christian,  and  of  course  abjured  his  former  evil  prac- 
tices ;  he  has  experienced  forgiveness.  But  has  the  property  he 
lost  been  restored  to  him  1  By  no  means  :  this  penalty  of  his  for- 
mer sinfulness  he  must  continue  still  to  endure — hence  it  is  plain 
that,  though  pardoned,  he  has  not  escaped  punishment.  Mr.  S.  is 
another  instance  to  the  same  effect :  he  used  to  indulge  a  violent 
propensity  for  strife ;  the  lightest  occasion  would  excite  his  com- 
bativeness,  and  a  fight  was  his  first  impulse.  He  lost  an  eye  in 
one  of  his  quarrels,  which  led  him  to  reflect  on  the  madness  of  his 
conduct.  He  is  now,  after  many  struggles,  entirely  cured  of  his 
pugnacious  propensities — he  is  a  reformed  man,  and  enjoys  the 
consciousness  that  his  sins  are  remitted.  Still,  he  has  not  re- 
gained his  lost  eye ;  he  must  continue  to  abide  the  deprivation  as 
a  penalty  of  his  past  folly.  A  hundred  cases  of  the  kind  might 
be  instanced,  if  necessary,  to  show  X\^zi  forgiveness,  or  a  liberation 
from  sin,  does  not  imply  an  exemption  from  the  penalty  due  to  it. 
The  reformed  debauchee,  for  example,  who  by  years  of  indulgence 
had  wasted  his  bodily  and  mental  energies,  and  contracted  diseases 
which  either  must  shorten  his  days,  or  render  them  days  of  suffer- 
ing to  him ;  when  he  became  a  christian,  did  he  find  repentance 


S40  PRO  AND  CON  OP  UNIVERSALISM. 

to  expel  from  his  system  these  deleterious  effects  of  a  mispent 
life  ?  No  :  but  it  proved  a  means  of  preventing  an  increase 
of  those  effects  ;  for  when  the  cause  ceased,  it  ceased  to  produce 
results. 

Exactly  accordant  with  fact,  as  above  illustrated,  is  the  teach- 
ing of  inspiration  upon  this  head.  Speaking  of  the  divine  dealings 
with  the  rebellious  Israelites  during  their  sojourn  in  the  wilder- 
ness, David  says,  "  Thou  wast  a  God  that  forgavest  them,  though 
thou  tookest  vengeance  of  their  inventions."  (Ps.  xc.  8.)  In  the 
psalmist's  estimation,  therefore,  the/orgmng- of  sin  was  not  held 
to  be  incompatible  with  the  taking  vengeance  of  it.  "  I  will  cer- 
tainly chastise  you  for  that  act,  my  son,"  (said  father  C.)  "  it  must 
not  be  allowed  to  pass  with  impunity."  And  father  C.  did  chas- 
tise his  son  accordingly.  The  boy  was  subdued  ;  he  saw  the  evil 
of  his  conduct — sought  his  father's  forgiveness,  and  obtained  it. 
The  old  man  kissed  the  tears  from  the  cheek  of  his  child,  and 
pressed  him  to  his  bosom.  See  you  now  how  the  punishment  of 
sin  is  reconeileable  with  its  pardon  1  If  you  do,  you  understand 
the  philosophy  of  forgiveness  as  it  is  exhibited  in  the  scriptures. 
"  Wherein,  then,  (you  will  ask)  consisteth  the  advantages  of  par- 
don upon  this  scheme  V  They  are  great,  my  dear  reader,  and 
manifold  ;  the  pardoned  are  freed  from  their  former  vices,  and,  of 
course,  from  the  effects  that  would  follow  from  a  continuance  in 
them.  They  are  recovered  to  virtue.  Mr.  B.  no  longer  feels  that 
fever  of  the  soul  arising  from  solicitude  about  the  chances  of  the 
game.  He  is  not  startled  from  his  nightly  dreams  by  the  phan- 
toms of  wretches  whom  his  arts  have  reduced  to  penury,  and  their 
families  to  want  of  bread.  By  honest  industry  he  is  now  repair- 
ing his  own  wrecked  fortunes,  and  he  therefore  looks  upon  his 
wife  and  children  with  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  is  no 
longer  sporting  with  their  interests  and  happiness  for  life.  Such 
is  the  improvement  in  the  condition  of  Mr.  B.  As  to  Mr.  S.,  he 
is  subject  no  more  to  bodily  wounds  and  bruises  ;  nor  to  agita- 
tions of  spirit  such  as  he  experienced  while  a  slave  to  angry  pas- 
sions. He  is  not  now  perpetually  making  to  himself  enemies  of 
his  neighbors,  nor  exposing  himself  to  expensive  and  mortifying 
litigations — he  lives  in  peace  within  himself,  and  with  all  around 
him.  Would  to  God  that  the  whole  of  the  two  classes  of  sinners 
whom  these  gentlemen  are  designed  to  represent,  would,  by  a  like 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  241 

amendment,  secure  to  themselves  a  similar  change  of  condition ! 
I  have  said  nothing  of  their  spiritual  enjoyments,  arising  from  a 
religious  life  :  these  are  incalculable.  Oh  !  the  exquisite  happi- 
ness of  knowing  that  conscience,  and  God,  and  all  the  good  of 
mankind,  approve  them !  Both  these  gentlemen,  you  perceive, 
reader,  have  experienced  forgiveness  ,•  but  who  can  say  that  they 
have  not  also  been  punished? 

Errors  in  relation  to  punishment  have  naturally  led  to  errors  in 
relation  to  forgiveness.  Those  who  have  supposed  the  former  to 
be  arbitrary  in  their  nature,  have  also  well  supposed  that  when 
God  pleases,  they  can  be  dispensed  with  without  injury  to  any 
body,  or  the  contravention  of  any  eternal  principle ;  and  that  for- 
giveness actually  implies  the  setting  aside  these  punishments. 
By  the  same  class  of  theologians  it  is  even  gravely  affirmed,  that 
divine  punishments  are  not  designed  for  good  to  those  upon  whom 
they  operate  !  proceeding  as  they  do  from  infinite  goodness,  and 
operating  as  they  do  upon  creatures  who  are  the  subjects  of  that 
goodness,  (for  "  the  Lord  is  good  unto  all,")  yet  they  are  not  de- 
signed for  good  to  them  !  I  am  at  a  loss  whether  to  term  this 
false  philosophy,  or  no  philosophy  at  all. 

"But  U  for  gooff^  (do  you  say,  reader  1)  "  then  it  were  better 
to  commit  the  more  sin,  in  order  to  experience  the  more  punish- 
ment; the  more  of  a  good  thing  the  better."  Why,  my  most 
shrewd  reader,  it  would  be  a  good  act  in  one  to  help  you  out  of  a 
quagmire  ;  but  you  would  not  therefore  jump  into  a  quagmire  for 
the  sake  of  being  helped  out !  Should  we  not  deem  a  man  an  idiot 
if  he  broke  a  limb,  for  the  mere  sake  of  having  it  set  by  a  benevo- 
lent surgeon  1  Now  this  will  well  illustrate  the  case ;  for  the  set- 
ting of  a  fractured  limb,  although  a  beneficial  operation,  is  yet  a 
painful  one  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  divine  corrections.  It  is 
better,  therefore,  to  avoid  them  by  well-doing ;  yet,  when  they  are 
demerited,  it  is  better  that  they  be  experienced,  how  painful  so- 
ever, since,  coming  as  they  do  from  a  Being  who  is  infinitely 
wise,  just,  and  merciful,  they  cannot  but  be  productive  of  merci- 
ful results.  "  And  ye  have  forgotten  the  exhortation  which  speak- 
eth  unto  you  as  unto  children.  My  son,  despise  not  thou  the  chas- 
tening of  the  Lord,  nor  faint  when  thou  art  rebuked  of  him  :  For 
whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son 
whom  he  receiveth.  If  ye  endure  chastening,  God  dealeth  with 
Vol.  I.— V  No.  11. 


242  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

you  as  with  sons ;  for  what  son  is  he  whom  the  father  chasteneth 
notl  But  if  ye  be  without  chastisement,  whereof  all  are  parta- 
kers, then  are  ye  bastards,  and  not  sons.  Furthermore,  we  have 
had  fathers  of  our  flesh  which  corrected  us,  and  we  gave  them  re- 
verence :  shall  we  not  much  rather  be  in  subjection  unto  the  Fa- 
ther of  spirits,  and  live  1  For  they  verily  for  a  few  days  chastened 
us  after  their  own  pleasure ;  but  he  for  our  profit,  that  we  might 
be  partakers  of  his  holiness.  Now,  no  chastening  for  the  present 
seometh  to  be  joyous,  but  grievous  :  nevertheless  afterward  it 
yieldeth  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  unto  them  which  are 
exercised  thereby."  (Heb.  xii.  5 — 11.)  Thus  we  find  the  bible 
to  speak  very  intelligibly  as  to  the  ends  of  divine  punishment. 

"  But  is  this  theory — plausible  in  itself,  and  accordant  with  scrip- 
ture teaching — is  it  sustained  by  matter  of  fact?  Have  punish- 
ments a  reforming  tendency  1"  If  they  have  not,  then  must  it  be 
admitted  that  they  are  useless .-  for  they  cannot  repair  the  injury 
done  by  the  oflfender  ;  they  do  not  prevent  others  from  committing 
the  same  oflfence  :  and  to  say  that  they  vindicate  the  honor  of  the 
law,  is  to  put  words  together  which  have  no  intelligible  meaning. 
They,  then,  are  but  retaliatory  ^  their  object  is  revenge — sheer  re- 
venge ! 

"  But  why  does  not  the  punishment  of  an  offence  more  generally 
operate  to  prevent  others  from  committing  it?"  An  examination 
into  the  nature  of  punishment  will  explain  this.  Punishment  is  of 
two  kinds,  as  to  its  nature — several,  as  to  its  objects.  One  kind  may 
be  termed  arbitrary — the  other  necessary.  Arbitrary  punishment  is 
such  as  results  from  the  mere  will  of  the  punisher ;  it  has  no  na- 
tural  connexion  with  the  offence.  Necessary  punishment  is  such 
as  necessarily  proceeds  from  the  sin  itself;  it  is  an  unavoidable 
consequence  of  it.  In  the  one,  an  outward  executioner  is  required  ; 
in  the  other,  sin  is  its  own  executioner.  The  stroke  of  the  one 
may  therefore  be  dodged ;  the  stroke  of  the  other  is  as  inevitable 
as  fate.  To  illustrate.  Tell  a  man  that  murder  will  bring  him  to 
the  gallows,  and  his  mind  will  respond — "  Yes,  provided,  1st,  that 
I  am  detected:  2nd,  that  I  am  convicted:  3rd,  that  I  am  not  pardon- 
ed: 4th,  that  I  do  not  break  jail  and  escape:  5th,  or  die  a  natural 
death  before  the  day  of  execution :  6th,  or  do  not  despatch  myself 
in  some  other  way :  7th,  or  am  not  forcibly  rescued.''^  Now  it  is 
certain  that  either  of  these  accidents  may  prevent  the  catastrophe. 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  243 

Hence  it  will  be  seen,  that  between  murder  and  hanging  there  is 
no  natural  connexion.  The  connexion  is  arbitrary,  hence  its  un- 
certianty.  Here  then  is  the  reason  why,  in  all  countries,  sangui- 
nary laws  have  failed  to  diminish  the  number  of  crimes.  Now  let 
us  see  whether  divine  punishments  can  be  thus  evaded.  What  is 
the  natural  penalty  of  murder  1  It  is  remorse — fierce,  unremitting, 
dreadful  remorse.  Is  there  any  escape  from  these  effects?  None. 
The  wretch  may  traverse  oceans  ;  may  fly  to  remotest  lands ;  may 
seek  to  hide  himself  in  trackless  deserts,  or  the  inaccessible  wilds 
of  nature — vain,  all  his  efforts  !  the  voice  of  his  brother's  blood 
crielh  out  against  him  from  the  ground.  No  outward  judicatory 
is  needed  here  :  no  judge,  nor  jurors,  nor  witnesses.  He  has  all 
within  himself.  He  dares  not  to  enter  a  plea  of  not  guilty  ;  con- 
science, if  he  did,  would  overwhelm  him  with  its  thunders.  No 
mockery  of  the  kind  is  admissible  in  the  court  with  which  he 
has  to  do.  How  many  a  wretch  thus  hunted  down,  although  no 
clue  existed  by  which  man  could  trace  the  crime  of  blood-guilti- 
ness to  his  skirts,  has  voluntarily  surrendered  himself  to  the  ac- 
tion of  the  law,  preferring  to  die  an  ignominious  death  rather  than 
to  suffer  longer  from  the  goadings  of  remorse  1  You  may  tell  me, 
that  in  some  countries  murder,  in  some  cases,  is  not  held  to  be  a 
crime,  and  is  therefore  not  productive  of  the  consequences  de- 
scribed. Very  well — where  it  is  not  known  to  be  a  crime,  no 
guilt  can  be  incurred  in  the  com.mission  of  it ;  yet,  even  then,  as 
a  wrong,  its  evil  effects  are  not  the  less  certain.  The  savage  who 
deems  revenge  a  duty,  and  buries  his  hatchet  in  the  skull  of  an 
enemy,  is  in  constant  fear  of  a  reaction  of  the  same  law  of  revenge 
upon  himself.  Even  pirates,  and  bandits,  who,  by  custom,  havo 
learned  to  set  small  value  on  the  life  of  a  fellow-being,  have  the 
greater  reason,  from  that  very  cause,  to  dread  falling  victims  to  the 
avarice,  or  the  bloodthirstiness  of  each  other.  In  the  government 
of  God,  there  is,  there  can  he,  no  escape  from  deserved  punishment. 

"  Not  even  by  repentance  V  No,  not  even  by  repentance.  Je- 
hovah has  himself  declared,  that  he  "  will  by  no  means  clear  the 
guilty."  (Ex.  xxxiv.  7.)  "Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall 
he  also  reap."  (Gal.vi.  7.)  "Thoughhand  join  in  hand,  the  wick- 
ed shall  not  be  unpunished."  (Prov.  xi.  I.)  If  God  will  clear  the 
guilty  by  the  means  of  repentance,  will  he  not  be  clearing  them 
by  same  means  %  According  to  Paul,  he  "  will  render  unto  every 


244  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNI  VERBALISM. 

man  according  to  his  deeds."  (Rom.  ii.  6.)  But  how  so,  if,  in  re- 
gard to  many,  no  retribution  for  evil  deeds  will  ever  be  rendered 
at  all  1 

Arbitrary  punishments  are  the  only  ones  within  human  power 
to  inflict — we  cannot  make  wickedness  punish  itself  ^  hence,  we 
append  to  transgression  certain  penal  pains,  which,  being  by  na- 
ture wholly  unconnected  with  it,  may  or  may  not  take  effect,  as 
mere  accident  shall  determine.  The  popular  theology  represents 
the  divine  penalties  of  sin  as  being  equally  arbitrary,  and,  there- 
fore, equally  uncertain  !  That  I  may  be  perfectly  comprehended 
in  this  branch  of  my  subject,  I  will  once  more  illustrate  the  dif- 
ference betwixt  positive  and  moral  (in  other  words  arbitrary  and 
necessary)  punishments,  by  the  sin  of  our  first  parents  and  its 
penalty. 

The  divine  threatening  in  regard  to  the  tree  was,  "  In  the  day 
thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt'  surely  die."  We  understand  this 
death  to  have  been  vioral  in  its  nature — consisting  of  condem- 
nation, debasement,  &c.;  such  as  we  are  given  to  know  they  really 
did  experience  on  the  day  of  transgression,  and  such  as  naturally 
resulted,  and  must  ever  result,  from  the  doing  an  unlawful  deed. 
We  suppose  that  the  punishment  could  not  possibly  have  been 
dispensed  with  ;  and  that  whether  it  had  been  threatened  or  not, 
it  would  have  resulted  from  the  act  just  as  it  did  ;  because  it  was 
a  natural  and  necessary  consequence  from  it.  It  is  even  doubtful 
if  Jehovah  originated  the  connexion  between  sin  and  suffering,  or 
whether  he  could  dissolve  it.  But,  supposing  it  possible  to  have 
set  aside  the  penalty  in  the  case,  it  certainly  would  have  opera- 
ted to  the  injury  of  the  culprit,  who  would  have  been  encouraged 
to  argue  thus  within  himself : — "  I  once  transgressed  the  law  of 
God,  and  no  evil  result  ensued  ;  hence,  I  find  that  misery  is  not 
an  inevitable  consequence  of  sin,  it  only  takes  place  as  Jehovah 
pleases  ;  it  then  is  not  an  evil  in  itself,  for  if  it  were,  it  would  of 
itself  produce  evil  effects ;  and  since  it  pleased  God  that  it  should 
not  in  this  instance,  the  same  may  happen  in  all  future  instances." 
Emboldened  by  this  persuasion,  he  sins,  and  sins  again,  and  wheu 
at  length  vengeance  does  ensue,  he  thinks  that  inasmuch  as  it  was 
not  necessary,  it  might  as  well  have  been  dispensed  with,  and  ii 
was  therefore  unkind  in  God  to  inflict  it. 
Now,  the  popular  theology  supposes  that  the  death  in  the  threat* 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  245 

fining  above  noticed,  implied  the  being  doomed  to  eternal  jiames  f 
Can  any  body  see  any  necessary^  any  reasonable  connexion  between 
the  eating  of  an  interdicted  apple,  and  the  suffering  in  ceaseless 
fireT  It  is  not  even  pretended  by  those  who  take  this  view  of  the 
subject,  that  the  penalty  threatened  was  otherwise  than  arbitrary ; 
and,  accordingly  (as  they  think)  a  pretext  was  easily  found  for  set- 
ting it  aside  !  They  did  not  die !  God  relented  !  (The  snake  had 
predicted  this  conclusion  of  the  affair,  and  our  friends  confirm  the 
truth  of  the  prediction.)  The  culprits  were  dismissed  with  a  half- 
angry  and  half-approving  reprimand  ! 

I  do  not  affirm  that  in  the  administration  of  the  divine  govern- 
ment, arbitrary  punishments  have  never  occurred ;  in  scripture 
times,  it  would  seem,  the  divine  dealings  with  men  were  more 
direct  and  visible  than  they  have  since  been.  In  those  days,  out- 
ward and  sensible  expressions  of  his  displeasure  against  sin  some- 
times occurred  ;  as  in  the  deluge,  the  destruction  of  Sodom,  Baby- 
lon, Tyre,  Sidon,  and  Jerusalem.  It  is  not  pretended,  that  in  this 
class  of  punishments,  the  reformation  of  the  punished  is  the 
immediate  object ;  they  are  meant  as  examples  to  others,  and  there- 
fore they  are  benevolent,  although  not  directly  so  to  the  subjects 
themselves ;  yet  they  must  even  to  them  prove  ultimately  so,  it 
being  no  part  of  Jehovah's  policy  to  sacrifice  the  eternal  interests 
of  a  part,  to  secure  those  of  the  residue,  for  several  reasons. 
1st.  He  is  under  no  such  necessity.  2nd.  He  can  as  easily  make 
all  eventually  happy  as  to  make  a  part  so.  3d.  He  loves  one 
portion  of  his  creatures  as  well  as  another.  And,  4th,  must  there- 
fore prefer  the  final  good  of  all  before  the  final  good  of  some. 
These  outward  punishments  are  exceptions  to  the  general  scheme 
of  divine  retribution;  they  have  but  seldom  occurred,  and  are  called 
his  "  strange  work."    (Isa.  xxviii.  21.) 

I  have  said,  it  is  even  doubtful  if  Jehovah  originated  the  connex- 
ion betwixt  sin  and  misery.  I  must  take  this  back.  I  prefer  to 
resolve  all  causes,  with  their  effects,  into  the  all-wise  appoint- 
ment of  the  infinite  God  ;  more  especially  as  the  scriptures  afford 
me  examples  to  this  effect ;  and,  besides,  there  is  so  evident  a 
mercy  in  the  law  of  which  I  speak,  that  it  seems  a  dictate  of  rea- 
son as  well  as  piety,  to  account  for  its  existence  on  the  ground  of 
divine  institution.  It  can  scarcely  be  necessary  for  me  to  prove 
this  the  bible  view  of  the  case.    Nevertheless,  I  will  adduce  a 

Vol.  I.— V  2 


246  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

few  instances.  The  following  is  the  language  of  Eliho,  the  onlj 
one  of  Job's  friends  whose  discourse  God  did  not  disapprove. 
*'  That  he  may  withdraw  man  from  his  purpose,  and  hide  pride 
from  man.  He  keepeth  back  his  soul  from  the  pit,  and  his  life 
from  perishing  by  the  sword.  He  is  chastened  also  with  pain 
upon  his  bed,  and  the  multitude  of  his  bones  with  strong  pain : 
so  that  his  life  abhorreth  bread  and  his  soul  dainty  meat.  His 
flesh  is  consumed  away,  that  it  cannot  be  seen ;  and  his  bones 
that  were  not  seen,  siick  out.  Yea,  his  soul  draweth  near  unto 
the  grave,  and  his  life  to  the  destroyers.  If  there  be  a  messenger 
with  him,  an  interpreter,  one  among  a  thousand,  to  show  unto  man 
his  uprightness  ;  then  he  is  gracious  unto  him,  and  saith.  Deliver 
him  from  going  down  to  the  pit;  I  have  found  a  ransom.  His 
flesh  shall  be  fresher  than  a  child's :  he  shall  return  to  the  days 
of  his  youth.  He  shall  pray  unto  God,  and  he  will  be  favourable 
unto  him  ;  and  he  shall  see  his  face  with  joy  :  for  he  will  render 
unto  man  his  righteousness.  He  looketh  upon  men;  and  if  any 
say,  I  have  sinned,  and  perverted  that  which  was  right,  and  it  pro- 
fited me  not ;  he  will  deliver  his  soul  from  going  into  the  pit,  and 
his  life  shall  see  the  light.  Lo,  all  these  things  worketh  God  often- 
times with  man,  to  bring  back  his  soul  from  the  pit,  to  be  en- 
lightened with  the  light  of  the  living."  (Job  xxxiii.  17 — 30.)  The 
same  Elihu  also  exclaims,  "  Surely  it  is  meet  to  be  said  unto  God, 
I  have  borne  chastisement,  I  will  not  offend  any  more."  (Job  xxxiv. 
31.)  Jeremiah  takes  a  similar  view  in  regard  to  the  sufferings 
brought  on  themselves  by  the  Israelites,  whom  he  personates  under 
the  name  of  Ephraim.  "I  have  surely  heard  Ephraim  bemoaning 
himself  thus.  Thou  hast  chastised  me,  and  I  was  chastised,  as  a  bul- 
lock unaccustomed  to  the  yoke  :  turn  thou  me  and  I  shall  be  turned  ; 
for  thou  art  the  Lord  my  God.  Surely  after  that  I  was  turned,  I 
repented  ;  and  after  that  I  was  instructed,  I  smote  upon  my  thigh : 
I  was  ashamed,  yea,  even  confounded,  because  I  did  bear  the 
reproach  of  my  youth.  Is  Ephraim  my  dear  son  ]  is  he  a  pleasant 
child  1  for  since  I  spake  against  him,  I  do  earnestly  remember 
him  still ;  therefore  my  bowels  are  troubled  for  him  :  I  will  surely 
have  mercy  upon  him  saith  the  Lord."  (Jer.  xxxi.  18 — 20.)  And 
the  sufferings  entailed  upon  the  same  people  by  an  invasion  of 
their  country,  is  by  the  same  prophet  accounted  for  in  the  same 
way  throughout  his  book  of  Lamentations ;  and  they  are  also  rep- 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  247 

resented  as  issuing  in  the  same  gracious  ends.  "  For  the  Lord 
will  not  cast  off  for  ever.  But  though  he  cause  grief,  yet  will  he 
have  compassion  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  mercies.  For 
he  doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men.  To 
crush  under  his  feet  all  the  prisoners  of  the  earth.  To  turn  aside 
the  right  of  a  man  before  the  face  of  the  Most  High.  To  subvert 
a  man  in  his  cause,  the  Lord  approveth  not.  Who  is  he  that 
saith,  and  it  cometh  to  pass,  when  the  Lord  comraandeth  it  not  ? 
Out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Most  High  proceedeth  not  evil  and  good  ? 
Wherefore  doth  a  living  man  complain,  a  man  for  the  punish- 
ment of  his  sins  ?  Let  us  search  and  try  our  ways  and  turn 
again  to  the  Lord."  (Lam.  iii.  31 — 40.)  David,  enumerating  the 
blessings  of  providence  upon  himself  and  his  household,  repre- 
sents the  following  as  the  divine  promise  in  regard  to  his  children. 
*'  If  his  children  forsake  my  law,  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments ; 
if  they  break  my  statutes,  and  keep  not  my  commandments;  then 
will  I  visit  their  transgression  with  the  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with 
stripes.  Nevertheless  my  loving-kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take 
from  him,  nor  suffer  my  faithfulness  to  fail."  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  30 — 
33.)  Now  it  is  absolutely  pitiful,  yea,  contemptible,  to  give  to 
passages  of  this  nature  a  partial  application,  as  if  Jehovah  does 
not  in  his  dealings  with  each  and. all  of  the  transgressors  of  his 
law,  observe  the  same  eternal  principles  of  mercy  and  justice ! 

Let  us  attend  now  to  the  modus  operandi  of  divine  punishments. 
I  have  before  considered  the  case  of  the  gambler,  but  we  may  take 
a  more  difficult  view  of  it.  We  will  suppose,  then,  that  he  con- 
stantly rises  from  the  game  a  winner  ,•  how,  in  that  event,  does  he 
get  his  punishment  1  Is  he  not  rather  rewarded  for  his  wicked- 
ness, and  encouraged  to  proceed  in  it  1  He  would  be  encouraged, 
indeed,  if  he  fared  as  well  as  you,  reader,  seem  to  suppose  ;  and 
in  that  case,  why  shall  we  not  all  turn  gamblers,  since  we  are 
lured  to  it  by  the  flowers  which  providence  strews  in  that  path  ! 
Reader,  dismiss  this  delusion ;  for  such,  and  a  very  destructive 
one,  it  really  is.  I  will  tell  you  how  the  successful  gambler  gets 
his  punishment.  It  does  not  follow  from  the  fact  that  he  always 
has  won,  that  he  therefore  always  shall ;  one  more  expert  than 
himself  may  at  any  moment  strip  him  of  all  his  past  gains;  his 
very  successes  serve  to  lessen  his  caution,  and  embolden  him  to 
venture  larger  stakes ;  hence,  it  often  happens  that  his  entire  for- 


248  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

tune  is  vibrating  upon  the  chances  of  the  moment ;  he  may  arise 
with  double  his  present  wealth,  or  without  a  penny.  "What  must 
be  his  mental  perturbation  when  so  much  is  depending  on  such 
shifting  hazards  ?  Anxiety  of  this  nature,  so  feverish,  so  intense, 
is  rapid  in  its  progress  of  eating  out  the  soul.  But  aside  from 
this,  has  he  no  reasons  for  disquietude  in  regard  to  his  victims, 
some  of  whom  he  may  have  rendered  desperate  by  despair  at 
their  losses,  and  may  visit  their  ruin  upon  his  head  1  Let  him  who 
wishes  to  portray  the  career  of  a  gambler  as  pleasant,  go  to  a 
Parisian  or  a  London  hell,  (rightly  named,)  to  borrow  his  lights 
and  shades  for  the  picture.  Would  you,  reader,  exchange  your 
life  of  quiet  and  of  honest  self-approval,  for  his,  of  turbulence  and 
apprehension  I 

Consider,  next,  the  case  of  the  dishonest  man.  Suppose  him  so 
adroit  in  his  arts  that  he  is  never  detected  ;  is  he  therefore  never 
punished  1  Why  then  starts  he  at  every  leaf  that  rustles  near 
him  1  Why  those  uneasy  glances  when  he  hears  approaching 
footsteps  ?  Why  cannot  he  look  his  honest  neighbors  in  the  face, 
but  his  eye  must  be  constantly  cowering  beneath  their  glance  % 
And  consider,  moreover,  in  addition  to  the  suffering  which  these 
circumstances  indicate,  how  many  painful  risks  of  detection  he 
runs,  how  much  time  he  spends  in  plotting  and  executing  his 
felonies ;  which,  employed  in  honest  industry,  would  bring  him 
equal  gains,  with  more  certainty  and  less  suffering ;  and  when  he 
prowls  forth  in  the  darkness  to  effect  his  disgraceful  purposes, 
what  dangers  of  various  nature  he  must  necessarily  encounter. 
Pah  !  his  bread  is  bitter  and  hard-earned  !* 

I  might  detail  the  penalties  attendant  on  the  different  crimes  in 
practice  amongst  mankind — lying,  adultery,  fornication,  drunken- 
ness, &c. ;  each  has  its  own  appropriate  pains  and  dangers  ;  each 


*  The  case  of  Johnson,  of  Cincinnati,  is  an  instance  to  the  point,  that  great  danger 
is  incurred  even  by  the  most  expert  marauders.  This  man  had  for  a  number  of  years, 
as  it  afterwards  appeared,  been  in  the  habil  of  committing  burglaries,  and  with  such 
secrecy  and  success,  that  he  had  amassed  a  large  quantity  of  stolen  goods  together,  to 
the  value  of  several  thousand  dollars ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  in  all  iliat  time  his 
character  and  conduct  were  suspected.  One  morning,  the  keepers  of  a  wholesale 
store  in  the  city  found  their  door  to  have  been  ojiened  in  the  nishi,  and  on  entering 
aspectarle  of  a  horrid  description  presented  itself— it  was  the  deadbody  of  the  burglar, 
manded  in  such  a  manner  as  bafflpd  all  attempts  to  identify  him,  until  by  accident 
(or  led  by  a  suspicion  of  the  fact)  his  own  daughter  approached,  examined  him,  and 
by  a  particular  mark  on  his  person  discovered  the  dreadful  truth,  that  the  mangled 
wretch  before  her  was  her  father !  He  had  in  the  darkness  fallen  from  the  third  loft 
through  the  scuttle.    What  a  death  to  die !  and  in  what  a  cause  1 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  249 

brings  with  it  an  entailment  of  shame,  and  loss,  and  remorse.  Need 
I  enlarge,  reader  1  I  trow  not,  because  your  own  bosom  is  at  this 
moment  throbbing  responses  in  harmony  with  these  statements — it 
knows  that  you  never  sinned  but  the  regularity  of  its  throb  was 
interrupted,  and  the  quiet  of  its  empire  invaded. 

"  But  conscience  becomes  callous  after  a  while,"  say  you,  "  and 
the  sinner  of  every  kind  learns  to  perpetrate  his  deeds  without 
compunction  ;  hence,  instead  of  increasing  with  the  ratio  of  guilt, 
(as  justice  would  seem  to  require,)  punishment  actually  diminishes 
as  crime  increases."  A  specious  objection,  I  grant  you,  reader, 
very  specious  ;  but  you  overlook  the  fact  that  this  moral  insen- 
sibility is  itself  a  punishment — the  greatest  of  punishments. 
When  thus  given  over  to  hardness  of  heart  and  a  seared,  a  cic- 
atrised conscience,  the  individual  has  in  a  manner  lost  his  moral 
nature  ;  it  is  absorbed  in  the  animal,  the  brute ;  all  the  nicer  chords 
of  his  being,  whence  formerly  sprung  the  more  refined  enjoyments 
of  his  life,  have  lost  their  harmonies ;  these  delicate  barriers  be- 
twixt his  soul  and  infamy  being  broken  down,  he  is  lost  hence- 
forth to  conscience,  and  modesty,  and  self-respect,  and  a  respect 
for  public  opinion ;  he  is  become  an  absolute  wretch,  a  beacon  set 
up  by  providence  amidst  the  rocks  of  crime,  as  a  caution  to  others 
to  avoid  a  similar  degradation.  And  reckon  you  this  among 
your  instances  of  exemption  from  present  suffering  1  I  pray  hea- 
ven that  of  all  its  numerous  and  dreadful  retributive  dispensations, 
I  may  especially  be  preserved  from  this  ! 

Thus  it  is  seen,  that  such  is  the  order  of  things  in  the  economy  of 
providence,  that  each  sin  necessarily  entails  its  own  penal  conse- 
quences ;  that  escape  from  these,  otherwise  than  by  an  avoidance 
of  the  causes  which  produce  them,  is  absolutely  impossible.  It 
is  by  this  class  of  penalties  that  the  most  of  men  are  restrained 
from  crime  ;  even  where  there  is  no  written  or  positive  law,  these 
exert  their  influence ;  and  their  efficacy  would  be  incalculably 
greater  than  it  commonly  is,  if  preachers  and  moralists  were  not 
perpetually  diverting  men's  attention  from  them,  and  directing  it 
to  punishments  of  a  factitious  and  uncertain  character,  which  ter- 
rify only,  when  they  can  be  made  to  appear  as  unavoidable  and 
near  at  hand ;  and  they  then  serve  but  as  instruments  for  waking 
up  vague  and  superstitious  apprehensions ;  not  for  establishing 
rational  and  permanent  checks  upon  our  vicious  inclinations :  it 


250  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the  latter  object  should  be  thus 
accomplished.* 

No  person,  of  sane  mind,  will  voluntarily  thrust  his  hand  into 
the  fire.  Why  ?  Because  he  knows  that  pain  would  be  the  cer- 
tain consequence.  He  does  not  love  pain,  and  he  therefore  avoids 
an  act  which  he  knows  would  incur  it.  Suppose  he  were  equally 
sure  that  sin  will  produce  suffering,  would  he  not  have  equal  rea- 
son for  avoiding  it  also  ?  He  would,  undoubtedly  :  and  hence  is 
proven  the  importance  of  convincing  men  that  misery  is  an  abso- 
lutely certain  result  of  wickedness  ;  and  in  order  to  their  being  so 
convinced,  they  must  be  shown  that  the  two  things  are  naturally 
and  necessarily  connected  together. 

"  But  the  comparison  is  not  good,"  (you  may  say,)  "  for  we 
have  no  inducement  to  thrust  a  hand  into  the  fire,  even  if  no  pain- 
ful efiect  followed — whereas  we  have  an  inducement  to  sin,  in 
the  immediate  pleasure  which  sin  affords."  Very  well — we  must 
then  have  recourse  to  another  illustration.  Many  people  are  pre- 
vented from  eating  honey,  although  it  is  extremely  agreeable  to 
their  palate,  by  the  acute  cholic-pains  which  they  have  experi- 
enced from  the  using  it.  Perhaps  their  fondness  for  it  induced 
them  to  hope,  at  first,  that  these  pains  were  merely  accidental ; 

*  The  following  facts  prove  the  correctness  of  the  above  statement ;  they  are  con- 
tained in  an  expose  of  the  conduct  of  the  Professors  and  Students  of  the  Oberlin  In- 
stitute, Ohio,  by  Delaznn  Smith,  A  Student.  These  men  are  new-light  Presbyte- 
rians, and,  of  course,  christians,  par  excellence ;  firm  believers  in  eternal  torments, 
and,  without  doubt,  very  sincere  by  fits  and  starts,  or,  when  the  danger  of  these  tor- 
ments affecting  themselves,  is  felt  to  be  imminent.  This  end  is  frequently  accom- 
plished for  a  ti'me  by  what  are  termed  revivals  of  religion ;  it  was  during  such  a 
season,  that  the  following  facts,  relative  to  the  character  of  the  Professors  and  Stu- 
dents, were  disclosed  by  themselves.  President  Mahan  doubted,  he  said,  if  he  had 
ever  been  a  christian,  or  had  ever  understood  the  christian  religion.  Professor  Mor- 
gan confessed  the  same,  and  in  addition,  that,  he  had  committed  very  great  and  griev- 
ous sins,  in  making  an  idol  of  his  young  wife.  Professor  Cowles  said  he  was  in  a 
like  predicament  with  the  others  of  the  faculty.  U.  T.  Chamberlain  said,  that  on 
leaving  Lane  Seminary,  Cincinnati,  he  stole,  and  brouglit  off  a  quantity  of  Joiners^ 
tools— diXso,  that  his  pride  had  kept  him  from  praying  for  three  weeks  together,  be- 
cause some  of  his  brethren  could  pray  better  ihati  he  could  .'—moreover,  he  had  been 
in  the  habit  of  robbing  hen-roosts,  lying,  and  other  gross  sins.  Oliver  D.  Hibbard 
(now  Principal  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  at  Oberlin)  confessed  to  a  disbelief 
in  the  Holy  Ghost ;  to  lying,  and  divers  other  hypocrisies.  G.  L.  Hovey  had  been 
dishonest  in  his  dealings  ;  had  stolen,  dind  committed  almost  every  abomination; 
and,  among  others,  had  lied,  when  standing  in  the  sacred  desk  !  J.  Warren  had 
been  guilty  of  almost  every  abominatioa— among  o\.\ievs,  fornication  and  adultery. 
Henry  Fairchild  liad  been  so  proud  of  his  power  of  converting  sinners,  that  he  had 
lied,  and  misrepresented,  in  order  to  increase  the  fame  of  his  success.  Rev.  George 
Whipple  had  been  very  licentious,  and  depraved  in  his  habits,  particularly  in  acer-. 
lain  act,  too  indelicate  to  be  here  mentioned.  These  confessions,  it  must,  be  remem- 
bered, relate  to  their  conduct  while  they  stood  before  the  world  as  christians  ;  yea, 
as  teachers  of  religion  !  What  reliance,  I  ask  now,  can  be  placed  in  the  efficacy  of 
threatened  punishments,  even  of  the  most  terrible  kind,  which  may,  by  repentance, 
or  other  means,  be  wholly  evaded  ] 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  251 

but  on  their  experiencing  the  same  result  whenever  they  ate  of  it, 
they  were  convinced  of  its  being  an  inseparable  consequence  ; 
and  they  were  therefore  induced  to  abandon  the  indulgence  in  it 
altogether.  I  ask,  now,  if  these  cholic-pains  do  not  impose  a 
more  eflfectual  check  upon  their  appetite  for  the  honey,  than  would 
an  interdict  on  pain  of  imprisonment,  or  even  of  damnation  1  It  as- 
suredly does,  and  for  this  good  reason  :  these  cholic  aflfections, 
they  know,  cannot  be  eluded  ;  they  may  be  accounted  for  on  phy- 
siological principles  ;  their  connexion  with  the  cause  that  pro- 
duces them  is  necessary,  and  therefore,  unavoidable :  whereas, 
betwixt  the  eating  of  honey  and  the  being  imprisoned,  or  damned, 
there  is  no  necessary  connection  whatever.  How  immeasurably 
important,  then,  is  it  to  the  interests  of  virtue,  that  men  be  faith- 
fully instructed  as  to  the  certainty  of  the  penal  consequences  of 
transgression  !  For  what  care  they  how  hot  is  the  hell  with  which 
they  are  menaced,  or  how  durable  are  its  agonies,  so  long  as  they 
are  persuaded  that,  how  many,  or  enormous  soever  their  crimes, 
they  shall  escape  the  punishment  altogether  1  Hence,  a  trans- 
mundane  hell  is  an  impotent  bug-bear. 

You  may  tell  a  person  who  has  an  appetite  (or  a  passion,  I 
know  not  which  to  term  it,)  for  intoxicating  drinks,  that  if  he  dies 
a  drunkard  he  will  be  eternally  damned.  What  cares  he  for  such 
a  threat?  All  depends  on  an  if-— if  he  dies  a  drunkard ;  but  he 
does  not  calculate  on  dying  such — not  he  :  his  purpose  is  to  stop 
in  good  time,  and,  by  repentance,  get  to  heaven  at  last.  No,  no  ; 
the  steps  to  drunkenness  are  not  to  be  thus  arrested — not  thus  can 
you  resist  the  momentum  of  that  reckless  propensity,  by  which 
so  many  a  fellow-being  is  impelled  on  to  certain  and  protracted 
ruin.  Still,  the  case  is  not  utterly  hopeless,  if,  before  he  has  be' 
come  a  slave  to  the  maddening  bowl,  you  can  but  gain  his  attention 
to  the  voice  of  reason  and  fact,  and  can  portray  to  him  in  the 
dreadful  colors  of  truth,  the  deep,  deep  infamy,  to  which  a  begun 
indulgence  will  almost  inevitably  lead — the  bloated  countenance  ; 
the  blood-shot  eye ;  the  fevered  pulse ;  the  heart  on  fire,  and  re- 
quiring continual  draughts  to  cool  it;  the  intellects  bewildered  ; 
faculties  destroyed  ;  prospects  blasted  ;  person  rendered  loath- 
some by  filth  and  rags  ;  and  then  the  nausea  that  succeeds  de- 
bauch; the  shame ;  the  scoffs,  jeers,  and  dram-shop  blasphemies; 
and  oh !  worst  of  all,  a  broken-hearted  wife ;   squalid  and  starv 


252  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

ing  children;  a  desolate  household;  a  death-bed  in  a  ditch  at 
last — a  drunkard's  ignominious  grave,  and  execrated  memory! 
Such  is  the  hell  to  which  many  a  wretch  (alas  !  how  many,)  is 
drifted  on  the  fiery  tide  of  rum. 

And  since  sin  impairs  our  moral  nature,  there  is  evident  mer- 
cy in  thus  connecting  misery  with  it  so  inseparably ;  and  the 
scriptures,  accordingly,  represent  the  divine  retributions  as  be- 
ing prompted  by  mercy.  "Also  unto  thee,  0  Lord,  belongeth 
mercy :  for  thou  renderest  to  every  man  according  to  his  work." 
(Ps.  Ixii.  12.)  And  yet  popular  theologians  are  wont  to  consi- 
der the  business  of  divine  punishment  as  so  exclusively  just  in 
its  nature,  that  were  God  all  mercy,  he  would  dispense  with  it 
entirely  !  This  grows  out  of  the  mistake  of  supposing,  that  justice 
and  mercy  are  opposed  to  each  other :  in  which  case,  mercy  is 
usually  confounded  with  excessive  lenity — ^justice,  with  stern 
revenge.  He  who  has  enjoined  the  "  not  rendering  evil  for  evil, 
or  railing  for  railing,  but  contrariwise  blessing,"  (1.  Pet.  iii.  9.) 
will  eternally  outrage  the  principle  in  his  own  conduct  toward 
sinners  ! 

Some,  however,  may  seek  to  improve  my  argument  as  to  the 
nature  of  punishment,  to  the  purpose  of  shewing  that  it  may  be 
endless,  independent  of  the  divine  agency  ;  and  consequently,  with- 
out furnishing  ground  of  complaint  against  God.  "  For  if,  as  you 
affirm,"  (they  may  say)  "  the  penalty  of  sin  grows  out  of  its  na- 
ture, necessarily,  and  unavoidably — if  it  is  not  an  arbitrary  inflic- 
tion— why  may  it  not,  of  itself,  continue  forever,  and  the  divine 
character  be  wholly  unconcerned  in  the  business  ]"  It  is  no  un- 
common thing  for  the  advocates  of  ceaseless  woe  to  place  their 
defence  of  that  doctrine  on  this  very  ground.  "  We  don't  believe" 
(say  they)  "  in  a  local  hell — a  hell  of  material  fire.  The  sinner's 
misery  will  be  constituted  of  remorse — keen  and  poignant  re- 
morse ;  which,  like  an  undying  worm,  shall  gnaw  within  them  to 
all  eternity."  Nay,  good  friends,  this  refinement  upon  the  old 
fashioned  notion  of  hell,  will  not  do  ;  it  implies  an  impossibility. 
The  soul  (by  which,  I  mean  our  moral  nature,)  is  so  constituted, 
that  none  of  the  affections  thereof  can  be  exercised  forever,  with- 
out a  perpetual  action  of  the  exciting  cause.  They  may  be  com- 
pared to  fires,  which  will  burn  out  in  time,  except  new  fuel  be 
added  ;  or  to  springs,  whose  waters  will  exhaust,  except  kept  up 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  253 

by  constant  new  supplies.  Take,  for  instance,  the  affection  of 
joy  ;  you  know,  that  to  however  rapturous  a  degree  it  may  be  ex- 
cited, it  will  subside  at  length,  unless  it  be  renewed  by  fresh  ob- 
jects. The  same  is  true  of  sorrow ;  you  are  bereaved  by  death 
of  a  beloved  object,  and  your  heart  is  thrown  into  deep  anguish, 
so  deep,  that  you  suppose  it  will  never  be  in  your  power  to  smile 
again  :  however,  the  very  intenseness  of  your  grief  causes  it  to 
exhaust  the  sooner.  Such  is  also  the  case  with  remorse.  God 
must  re-constitute  the  soul  before  any  oi  its  affections  can  last 
forever,  without  a  constant  renewal  of  the  exciting  cause.  A  hell 
of  remorse,  therefore,  cannot  be  unceasing,  except  sin  (the  source 
of  remorse)  shall  also  be  so.  This  philosophy  is  in  accordance 
with  indisputable  fact,  and  it  utterly  puts  to  flight  the  idea  of  an 
endless  moral  hell. 

Neither  can  punishment  of  a  physical  kind  be  endless,  without  a 
perpetual  miracle  ;  pain  cannot  be  endured  without  wear  and  detri- 
ment to  the  nature  which  sustains  it.  Pain,  in  any  part  of  the  sys- 
tem, necessarily  implies  a  process  by  which,  if  it  continue  long 
enough,  the  part  must  be  destroyed.  But  endless  misery  implies 
that  the  subject  thereof  shall  endure  to  all  eternity ;  and  there- 
fore, he  will  forever  be  wasting,  decaying,  wearing  out,  without 
ever  being  wholly  wasted,  or  consumed — which  is  a  paradox  ; 
a  contradiction  ;  an  impossibility.  I  appeal  to  you,  reader,  if 
living  proofs  of  this  position  are  not  constantly  presenting  them- 
selves to  your  observation  ]  How  pain  attenuates  the  system  !  how 
destructive  is  its  influence  upon  both  body  and  mind !  In  order,  then, 
to  the  sinner's  being  susceptible  of  misery  without  end,  God,  by 
a  perpetual  miracle,  must  counteract  the  impairing  effects  of  mise- 
ry upon  the  sinner's  constitution  ;  and  in  how  much  worse  a  light 
the  Almighty  Jehovah  can  be  represented  than  as  thus  employed, 
I  leave  you,  dear  reader,  to  judge. 

It  is  most  wisely  and  benevolently  contrived,  in  the  existing  or- 
der of  things,  that  the  very  effects  of  an  evil  tend  to  its  cure. 
What  caused  the  prodigal  to  resolve  on  a  return  to  his  father  ?  It 
was  the  desperate  extremity  to  which  he  had  become  reduced  by 
sin.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  thoughts  of  home  would  have  se- 
riously affected  his  purposes,  if  his  affairs  abroad  had  been  in  a 
more  favorable  posture ;  and  I  appeal  to  every  gospel  minister, 
whether  his  preaching  does  not  much  oftener  take  effect  on  ex- 

VOL.  I.— W 


254  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

treme  and  flagrant  offenders,  than  on  those  who  sin  within  more 
moderate  limits  ]    Little  thought  the  prodigal's  elder  brother  that 
he  himself  stood  in  need  of  mercy,  when  he  so  grudged  its  lavish 
exercise  toward  the  ragged  penitent  just  returned  ;   and  it  is  usu- 
ally difficult  indeed,  to  convict  such  persons  of  guilt,  or  of  the  ne- 
cessity of  reformation  :    for,  as  their  departures  from  rectitude 
have  been  comparatively  moderate,  their  compunctions  are  like- 
wise so.     Mary  weeps  at  Jesus'  feet,  regardless  of  the  conven- 
tional forms  and  ceremonies  of  propriety  ;  she  is  wholly  bent  on 
easing  her  oppressed  heart  of  its  weight  of  remorseful  anguish, 
while  Simon,  the  Pharisee,  sits  by,  a  cold  and  captious  critic  up- 
on her  conduct.     Poor  Mary  had  sinned  much,  and  therefore  felt 
much ;   but  Simon  had  only  trespassed  within  the  bounds  of  de- 
cency, (as  the  world  phrases  it,)  and  he,  therefore,  was  troubled 
with  fewer  and  less  poignant  compunctions.    Thus  it  is  seen,  that 
the  very  excesses  of  an  evil  tend  to  bring  about  its  removal ;  and 
most  strikingly  is  the  goodness  of  Jehovah  manifested  in  this  ar- 
rangement.    We  find  it  to  obtain  in  all  the  departments  of  provi- 
dence.    When  our  atmosphere  becomes  surcharged  with  impuri- 
ties, insomuch  that  it  is  unfitted  for  respiration,  the  effect  is,  that 
those  agitations  are  generated  which  we  term  storms,  thunder- 
gusts,  etc.,  and  these  consequences  of  the  evil   effect  its  cure. 
When  the  human  body  becomes  diseased,  from  accident  or  care- 
less exposure  to  the  elements,  the  disease  affects  the  system  in 
various  ways ;    it  may  produce  discharges  of  the  superfluous 
and  feculent  humors  through  the  stomach  or  the  bowels,  or  by 
means  of  cutaneous  eruptions,  morbid  issues,  etc.,  which  effects 
it  is  the  office  of  the  physician  not  to  check,  (save  in  cases  of  ex- 
cess,) but  to  promote ;  and,  in  proportion  as  the  effects  are  facili- 
tated, is  the  cause  removed.    The  same  law,  as  before  remarked, 
operates  with  full  force  in  the  moral  s)'^stem.     Sin  is  a  moral  dis- 
ease— it  induces  moral  nausea;   the  soul  hath  its  aches,  and  its 
rheums,  and  its  feverish  heats  and  thirsts,  its  restlessness  and  its 
torpor,  as  well  as  the  body.    Let  the  moral  mediciner  not  attempt 
to  sooth  these,  whilst  the  cause  (which  is  sin)  continues  in  full 
operation ;   let  him  not  administer  anodynes  to  the  guilty  spirit : 
on  the  contrary,  let  him  arouse  its  faculties ;   set  its  crimes  in 
startling  array  before  it ;  deepen,  if  possible,  the  poignancy  of  its 
lemorse,  until  the  cause  of  the  disease  is  subdued  ;  let  him  then 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  255 

be  careful  to  impress  upon  the  patient  this  truth — this  momentous 
truth,  that  a  soul  diseased  by  sin,  must  ever,  by  an  unalterable 
law  of  heaven,  be  a  subject  of  like  sufferings.  This  truth  impress- 
ed, it  will  be  then  time  enough  to  dismiss  his  convalescent  pa- 
tient with  the  voice  of  soothing — "  Go,  and  sin  no  more,  lest  a 
worse  thing  come  upon  thee." 

Yes,  I  repeat  it — fearless  of  successful  contradiction — endless 
misery,  whether  physical  in  its  nature,  or  moral,  or  both  com- 
bined, is,  except  sin  be  also  endless,  an  absolute  impossibility.  I 
say  not  that  Omnipotence  could  not  inflict  it ;  by  a  perpetual  mi- 
racle he  could,  undoubtedly  ;  but  then,  it  would  be  a  miracle  of 
wrath,  of  cruelty,  of  revenge !  Such  an  anomaly  as  that  of  Al- 
mighty love,  directing  its  energies  to  ends  of  hatred,  would  fill 
the  boundless  universe  with  astonishment  and  dismay  ! 

"  But  why"  (you  may  ask)  "  may  not  sin  be  continued  to  all 
eternity  ]  For,  if  it  can,  then  by  your  own  admission,  misery  can 
also."  Yes,  I  admit  that  if  the  one  is  to  be  endless  in  duration, 
the  other  shall  be  so  likewise.  Let  us  inquire,  however,  whence 
sin  proceeds :  we  shall  find  it  proceeds  wholly,  and  altogether, 
from  our  animal  nature;  hence  the  scriptures  commonly  speak  of 
it  as  an  offspring  of  the  Jlesh  ,-  and  although  I  would  by  no  means 
exonerate  our  moral  powers  from  a  participation  in  the  guilt 
thereof,  yet  it  seems  highly  probable,  that  apart  from  our  fleshly 
constitution  sin  cannot  exist  "  Now  the  works  of  the  flesh  are 
manifest,  which  are  these ;  adultery,  fornication,  uncleanness,  las- 
civiousness,  idolatry,  witchcraft,  hatred,  variance,  emulations, 
wrath,  strife,  seditions,  heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness, 
revellings,  and  such  like."  (Gal.  v.  19 — 21.)  In  the  spiritual 
world,  it  is  presumed  there  will  be  no  gold  to  tempt  our  avarice ; 
no  strong  drinks  to  gratify  a  propensity  for  drunkenness ;  no  op- 
portunities of  conquest  to  excite  ambition,-  no  conflicts  of  interest 
to  engender  malice,  envy,  or  strife  ;  no  sexual  provocatives  to  lust  ; 
nor  temptations  to  fraud,  falsehood,  or  deceit.  If  sin  is  to  exist 
in  eternity,  I  should  like  to  know  what  are  to  be  its  objects !  and 
what  the  nature  of  the  propensities  which  shall  produce  it !  Can 
we  sin  when  envy,  lust,  ambition,  malice,  and  the  like  passions, 
with  all  our  animal  appetites,  shall  have  ceased  to  be?  Setting 
aside  those  scripture  testimonies,  then,  which  respect  the  eventu- 
al extinction  of  evil,  and  the  reconcilation  of  all  intelligences  to 


256  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

God,  we  have  common-sense  reasons  for  believing,  that  sin  will 
not  continue  beyond  the  limits  of  our  present  being  :  there  seems  a 
strong  probability,  at  least,  that  its  existence  is  incompatible  with 
the  spiritual  nature  of  man  in  the  resurrection  state.* 

The  only  view  of  endless  suffering  which,  nowadays,  is  even 
attempted  to  be  reconciled  with  the  divine  mercy,  is  that  which 
supposes  it  is  to  operate  as  an  example  to  others.  I  have  already 
noticed,  and  I  think,  refuted  this  notion.  I  have  shown  that  there 
can  be  no  necessity,  on  the  part  of  Omnipotence,  to  awe  the  uni- 
verse by  eternal  exhibitions  of  his  wrath,  in  order  that  he  may 
secure  its  obedience.  Ah !  human  ingenuity  may  do  much  ;  it 
may  sound  the  depths  of  oceans;  it  may  tell  the  number  and  the 
•magnitude  of  the  stars  ;  it  may  measure  the  altitnde  of  mountains 
whose  snowy  summits  are  miles  above  the  clouds  ;  it  may  navi- 
gate the  air,  and  find  its  way  to  distant  lands  across  trackless 
seas  ;  it  may  estimate  the  speed  of  light  ;  it  may  arrest  the  elec- 
tric bolts  of  heaven,  and  soar  to ;  in  short,  it  may  do  any 

thing  which  is  possible  in  itself.  But  to  reconcile  with  infinite 
love  the  infliction  of  endless  pains  upon  short-sighted  creatures, 
is  not  possible  in  itself,  and  therefore  human  ingenuity  must  fail 
in  that  attempt. 

What  should  we  think  of  the  wretch,  who  in  cool  blood  should 
load  one  of  his  children  with  irons,  confine  him  in  a  dark  and  so 
litary  cell,  limit  his  diet  to  a  scanty  morsel  of  bread  and  water 
per  diem,  until  worn  out  by  days  and  nights  of  suffering,  attenu- 
ated to  the  pale  and  meager  image  of  despair,  he  could  exhibit 
him  to  his  other  children  as  a  sample  of  his  power  of  torturing,  in 
order  to  secure  their  obedience  through  the  medium  of  their  fears? 
We  should  justly  esteem  such  a  wretch  a  very  prodigy  of  cruel- 
ty. Nevertheless,  I  put  it  to  your  conscience,  reader,  whether  the 
Being  who  can  chain  down  myriads  of  his  own  offspring,  for  simi- 
lar purposes,  in  a  boiling  ocean  of  flame,  is  not  immeasurably 
worse  than  even  he  1  Almighty  God  !  man,  in  portraying  thy 
character,  has  dipt  his  pencil  into  the  darkest  tints  of  his  own  heart ! 


*  I  maybe  here  told,  that  the  devil  and  his  ansels  could  sin  without  an  animal 
nature  •  and  that,  thereftire,  the  samo  may  be  equally  practicable  lo  us  when  we  de- 
part this  life  Be  it  remembered,  however,  that  I  deny  the  premises ;  and  conunon 
Bense  utterly  repudiates  the  idea,  that  any  high  order  of  intelligences  siiould  prove 
themselves  such  idiots  as  to  engage  in  an  open  war  with  Omnip.uence  !  I  assign  lo  the 
popular  notion,  therefore,  concerning  personal  devils,  an  emmeut  and  uudoubved 
place  amongst  old  wives'  fables. 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  257 

No,  no — endless  exemplary  punishment  will  not  do  ;  nor  will 
any  form  or  purpose  of  endless  punishment.  Nothing  will  do, 
which  makes  punishment  an  ultimate  object,  rather  than  a  means  ; 
for  it  ceases  to  be  punishment  in  that  view  of  it — it  is  revenge,  or 
cruelty,  or  something  of  that  nature,  but  not  punishment,  surely  ; 
that  were  a  sad  misnomer  ! 

I  am  contending  that  punishment,  (as  well  as  reward,)  under 
the  government  of  an  infinitely  just  and  merciful  Being,  must  be 
present  and  certain.  I  own  I  am  extremely  anxious  to  succeed  in 
making  this  point  clear;  and  I  may  therefore  introduce  the  same 
idea  again  and  again,  in  different  forms,  in  order  that  I  may  not 
fail  of  making  myself  perfectly  i«telligible.  We  will  now  take 
another  view  of  it. 

We  distinguish  between  what  is  good  and  what  is  bad,  by  their 
respective  effects  ;  if  the  fruit  of  a  tree  be  uniformly  agreeable  to 
our  tastes,  and  healthful  to  our  systems,  nothing  is  more  probable, 
than  that  we  will  often  have  recourse  to  it ;  if  it  even  at  times  be 
not  immediately  pleasing  to  our  palates,  so  that  it  prove  invaria- 
bly beneficial  to  our  healths,  we  will  still  be  likely  to  resort  to  it 
for  the  latter  reason.  By  this  tree  I  would  represent  virtue ;  its 
fruit  is  generally  pleasing,  and  always  wholesome.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  we  find  another  tree,  of  sometimes  inviting  appearance, 
whose  fruit  (although  luscious  to  the  taste,  at  times,)  never 
fails  to  produce,  in  those  who  eat  of  it,  the  most  painful  and 
deleterious  consequences,  will  we  not  naturally  incline  to  shun  it? 
Will  fence  be  needed  to  guard  this  tree]  or  sentinel  dog]  or  any 
devices  of  the  kind?  No,  indeed;  its  own  bad  qualities  are  its 
best  protection.  By  this  tree  I  would  represent  vice  ;  sweet  in  the 
mouth  its  fruit  may  sometimes  be,  but  invariably  bitter  in  the 
stomach.  I  cannot  quite  subscribe  to  the  popular  distich,  that 
"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  so  frightful  mien, 
As  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen." 
In  regard  to  some  vices,  this  is  undoubtedly  true ;  but  not  in  re- 
gard to  all.  Some  assume  so  fair  and  specious  an  appearance, 
that  the  whole  strength  of  virtuous  principle  is  requisite  for  resist- 
ing their  blandishments ;  like  sirens,  they  enchant  the  senses  of 
the  unwary  voyager  on  life's  treacherous  sea,  and  beguile  him 
among  the  rocks,  where  he  makes  fearful  shipwreck  of  his  peace. 
Were  it  otherwise,  we  should  have  no  inducements  to  sin ;   vir- 

VOL.  I— w8 


258  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

tue  would  have  no  trials,  and  would  deserve  no  recompense.  How- 
ever, whether  sin  is  or  is  not  uniformly  odious  in  appearance,  one 
thing  is  certain,  viz  :  that  its  influences  are  always  bitter  upon 
those  who  practice  it.  To  sin,  of  every  kind,  may  properly  be  ap- 
plied what  Solomon  has  said  of  one  species  of  it.  "  For  the  lips 
of  a  strange  woman  drop  as  a  honey-comb,  and  her  mouth  is 
smoother  than  oil :  but  her  end  is  bitter  as  wormwood,  sharp  as 
a  two-edged  sword.  Her  feet  go  down  to  death  ;  her  steps  take 
hold  on  hell.  Remove  thy  way  far  from  her,  and  come  not  nigh 
the  door  of  her  house  ;  lest  thou  give  thine  honor  unto  others,  and 
thy  years  unto  the  cruel  ;  lest  strangers  be  filled  with  thy  wealth, 
and  thy  labors  be  in  the  house  of  a  stranger ;  and  thou  mourn  at 
the  last,  when  thy  flesh  and  thy  body  are  consumed,  and  say,  how 
have  I  hated  instruction,  and  my  heart  despised  reproof."  (Prov. 
V.  3 — 5,8 — 12.)  If  the  order  of  things  were  otherwise  than  as 
here  set  forth — if  vice  did  not  injuriously  affect  those  who  prac- 
tice it  until  they  died,  and  the  evil  were  then  past  remedy  forever, 
how  incalculably  disastrous  would  be  the  consequences !  and  what 
a  reflection  against  the  divine  wisdom  and  equity  would  this  ar- 
rangement involve  !  Consider  it  seriously,  reader,  I  pray  you.  We 
are  not  now  to  learn  the  evil  nature  of  sin  from  its  present  effects, 
when  we  might  profit  by  the  lesson — no,  no ;  this  is  to  be 
proven  to  our  experience  when  the  discovery  will  be  too  late  to 
avail  us ;  when  the  overwhelming  realities  of  it  will  be  final,  hope- 
less, irremediable  !  And  such  is  the  wisdom  and  the  benevolence 
of  a  God,  in  his  treatment  of  his  creatures !  He  strews  the  path 
of  sin  with  roses  ;  man  is  wooed  to  tread  in  it  by  the  mystic  and 
winning  voices  of  the  passions  and  appetites;  he  is  lulled  into 
fancied  security  by  the  deceitful  influences  of  a  false  peace; 
meanwhile,  in  the  far-off  horizon  before  him,  a  tempest  of  wrath 
is  gathering  against  his  spirit,  and  at  a  moment  when  he  looks 
not  for  it,  it  will  burst  forth  with  a  fearful  ruin  upon  his  head: 
he  will  be  startled  from  his  delusive  dream  at  length,  and  find 
himself  undone  past  recovery  !  And  thus  God  deals  with  man  ! 
Oh,  false  and  treacherous  theology  !  yet,  how  cherished  !  how 
venerated,  as  the  very  truth  of  heaven  !  One's  acquaintance  with 
the  bible  must  be  imperfect,  indeed,  to  be  unable  from  its  pages 
to  refute  so  gross  an  error. 

Is  virtue  not  now  rewarded  ]  Let  the  following  s6ripture  tesli- 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  259 

monies  answer.  "  The  angel  of  the  Lord  encampeth  round  about 
them  thai  fear  him,  and  delivereth  them.  O  taste  and  see  that  the 
Lord  is  good  :  blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  him.  0  fear 
the  Lord,  ye  his  saints :  for  there  is  no  want  to  them  that  fear 
him.  The  young  lions  do  lack,  and  suffer  hunger :  but  they  that 
seek  the  Lord  shall  not  want  any  good  thing.  Come,  ye  chil- 
dren, hearken  unto  me ;  I  will  teach  you  the  fear  of  the  Lord. 
What  man  is  he  that  desireth  life,  and  loveth  many  days,  that  he 
may  see  good?  Keep  thy  tongue  from  evil,  and  thy  lips  from 
speaking  guile.  Depart  from  evil  and  do  good  ;  seek  peace,  and 
pursue  it.  The  eyes  of  the  Lord  are  upon  the  righteous,  and  his 
ears  are  open  unto  their  cry.  The  righteous  cry,  and  the  Lord 
heareth  and  delivereth  them  out  of  all  their  troubles.  The  Lord 
is  nigh  unto  them  that  are  of  a  broken  heart ;  and  saveth  such  as 
be  of  a  contrite  spirit.  Many  are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous  : 
but  the  Lord  delivereth  him  out  of  them  all.  He  keepeth  all  his 
bones  :  not  one  of  them  is  broken.  The  Lord  redeemeth  the  soul 
of  his  servants  ;  and  none  of  them  that  trust  in  him  shall  be  deso- 
late." (Ps.  xxxiv.  7—15,  17—20,  22.)  "  Trust  in  the  Lord,  and 
do  good  ;  so  shalt  thou  dwell  in  the  land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be 
fed.  Delight  thyself  also  in  the  Lord  ;  and  he  shall  give  thee  the 
desires  of  thy  heart.  Commit  thy  way  unto  the  Lord  ;  trust  also 
in  him,  and  he  shall  bring  it  to  pass  :  and  he  shall  bring  forth 
thy  righteousness  as  the  light,  and  thy  judgment  as  the  noon-day. 
But  the  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth  ;  and  shall  delight  themselves 
in  the  abundance  of  peace.  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered 
by  the  Lord ;  and  he  delightelh  in  his  way.  Though  he  fall,  he 
shall  not  be  utterly  cast  down  ;  for  the  Lord  upholdeth  him  with 
his  hand."  (Ps.  xxxvii.  3—6,  11,  23,  24."  He  that  dwelleth  in 
the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High,  shall  abide  under  the  shadow 
of  the  Almighty.  Surely  he  shall  deliver  thee  from  the  snare  of 
the  fowler,  and  from  the  noisome  pestilence.  He  shall  cover  thee 
with  his  feathers,  and  under  his  wings  shalt  thou  trust:  his 
truth  shall  be  thy  shield  and  buckler.  Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid 
for  the  terror  by  night;  nor  for  the  arrow  that  flieth  by  day ;  nor 
for  the  pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness  ;  nor  for  the  destruc- 
tion that  wastelh  at  noon-day.  There  shall  no  evil  befal  thee, 
neither  shall  any  plague  come  nigh  thy  dwelling.  For  he  shall 
give  his  angels  charge  over  thee,  to  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways." 


260  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

(Ps.  xci.  1,  3—6,  10, 11.)  "  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  the 
palm-tree :  he  shall  grow  like  a  cedar  in  Lebanon.  Those  that  he 
planted  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  shall  flourish  in  the  courts  of  our 
God.  They  shall  still  bring  forth  fruit  in  old  age;  they  shall  be 
fat  and  flourishing."  (Ps.  xcii.  12 — 14.)  "  Happy  is  the  man 
that  findeth  wisdom,  and  the  man  that  getteth  understanding :  for 
the  merchandise  of  it  is  better  than  the  merchandise  of  silver,  and 
the  gain  thereof  than  fine  gold.  She  is  more  precious  than  rubies  :; 
and  all  the  things  thou  canst  desire  are  not  to  be  compared  untO' 
her.  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand  ;  and  in  her  left  hand 
riches  and  honour.  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all 
her  paths  are  peace.  She  is  a  tree  of  life  to  them  that  lay  hold 
upon  her :  and  happy  is  every  one  that  retaineth  her."  (Prov.  ill. 
13—18.) 

Are  the  wicked  now  punished  1  Here  are  scripture  answers, 
"The  face  of  the  Lord  is  against  them  that  do  evil,  to  cut  off  the 
remembrance  of  them  from  the  earth.  Evil  shall  slay  the  wicked ; 
and  they  that  hate  the  righteous  shall  be  desolate."  (Ps.  xxxiv. 
16,  21.)  "  Fret  not  thyself  because  of  evil-doers,  neither  be  thou 
envious  against  the  workers  of  iniquity  ;  for  they  shall  soon  be 
cut  down  like  the  grass,  and  wither  as  the  green  herb.  The 
wicked  have  drawn  out  the  sword,  and  have  bent  their  bow,  to  cast 
down  the  poor  and  needy,  and  to  slay  such  as  be  of  upright  con- 
versation. Their  sword  shall  enter  into  their  own  heart,  and  their 
bows  shall  be  broken.  A  little  that  a  righteous  man  hath  is  bet- 
ter than  the  riches  of  many  wicked.  I  have  seen  the  wicked  in 
great  power,  and  spreading  himself  like  a  green  bay-tree;  yet 
he  passed  away,  and,  lo,  he  was  not ;  yea,  I  sought  him,  but  he 
could  not  be  found."  (Ps.  xxxvii.  1,  2,  14—16,  35,  36.)  "  Envy 
thou  not  the  oppressor,  and  choose  none  of  his  ways.  For  the 
froward  is  abomination  to  the  Lord  :  but  his  secret  is  with  the 
righteous.  The  curse  of  the  Lord  is  in  the  house  of  the  wicked  : 
but  he  blesseth  the  habitation  of  the  just."  (Prov.  iii.  31—33.) 
"  He  lovetn  transgression  that  loveth  strife  ;  and  he  that  exalteth 
his  gate  seeketh  destruction.  He  that  hath  a  froward  heart 
findeth  no  good ;  and  he  that  hath  a  perverse  tongue  falleth  into 
mischief."  (Prov.  xvii.  19,  20.)  "  Who  hath  woel  who  hath 
sorrow?  who  hath  contentions?  who  hath  babbling?  who  hath 
wounds  without  cause  ?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes  ?    They  that 


DIVINE  PUNISHMENTS  CONSIDERED.  261 

tarry  long  at  the  wine ;  they  that  go  to  seek  mixed  wine.  Look 
not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red,  when  it  giveth  his  colour  in 
the  cup,  when  it  moveth  itself  aright.  At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a 
serpent,  and  stingeth  like  an  adder.  Thine  eyes  shall  behold 
strange  women,  and  thy  heart  shall  utter  perverse  things :  Yea, 
thou  shall  be  as  he  that  lieth  down  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  or  as 
he  that  lieth  upon  the  top  of  a  mast."  (Prov.  xxiii.  29 — 34.)  "I 
went  by  the  field  of  the  slothful,  and  by  the  vineyard  of  the  man 
void  of  understanding ;  and,  lo,  it  was  all  grown  over  with  thorns, 
and  nettles  had  covered  the  face  thereof,  and  the  stone  wall  thereof 
was  broken  down.  Then  I  saw,  and  considered  it  well ;  I  looked 
upon  it,  and  received  instruction.  Yet  a  little  sleep,  a  little  slum- 
ber, a  little  folding  of  the  hands  to  sleep  :  so  shall  thy  poverty  come 
as  one  that  travelleth  ;  and  thy  want  as  an  armed  man."  (Prov. 
xxiv.  30 — 34.)  Let  these  testimonies  suffice  out  of  many,  very 
many ;  they  are  enough  to  establish  the  bible  decision  of  the  point, 
that  "  the  righteous  shall  be  recompensed  in  the  earth,  much  more 
the  wicked  and  the  sinner."    (Prov.  xi.  31.) 

In,  order,  then  that  punishment  should  be  effective  of  the  ends 
intended  by  it — in  order  to  its  fulfilling  its  purposed  objects  in  the 
scheme  of  divine  government,  it  is  seen  that  it  must  be  cerlain; 
it  must  also  be  a  natural  consequence  cf  sin — as  necessarily  con- 
nected with  it  as  other  effects  are  with  their  causes  ;  and  it  must 
also  be  proportionate  to  the  offence.  Hence,  the  scriptures  con- 
stantly speak  of  the  divine  retributions  as  being  according  to  our 
deeds.  But  does  the  doctrine  of  endless  misery  so  represent  it? 
Nay,  verily,  but  quite  the  contrary. 

Charles  and  Henry  were  brothers — twin  brothers ;  they  grew 
together  until  they  had  attained  their  20th  year,  when  Charles 
died  ;  and  as  he  made  no  profession  of  religion,  he  was  sentenced 
to  endless  pains.  Had  Henry  died  at  the  same  time,  he  would 
have  shared  a  similar  doom,  for  he  was  as  destitute  of  religion 
as  his  brother;  luckily  for  him,  however,  he  lived  until  his  70th 
year,  during  the  whole  of  which  time  he  was  in  an  unconverted 
state,  excepting  the  last  six  months  :  for  the  last  six  months 
he  had  lived  a  pious  life,  and,  consequently,  was  admitted  after 
his  death  to  heaven.  "  The  punishment  of  sin,"  saith  the  theory 
of  endless  misery,  "  does  not  take  place  here,  but  is  deferred  until 
the  parties  arrive  in  the  spiritual  world."  ^Consequently,  Henry 


262  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

received  no  punishment  in  this  world  for  his  long  career  of  sin- 
fulness ;  and  it  will  not  be  pretended  that  he  received  it  after 
he  arrived  in  heaven — he  was  therefore  not  punished  at  all !  But 
how  fares  it  with  his  brother  Charles  ?  He,  poor  fellow,  must 
welter  in  unceasing  flames  for  the  crimes  of  his  brief  existence  on 
earth  !  Has  God  rendered  to  these  twins  according  to  their  works'? 
The  above,  I  think,  is  not  a  strained  view  of  the  subject;  on  the 
contrary,  it  corresponds  to  facts  which,  if  the  notion  of  endless 
misery  be  true,  are  constantly  transpiring.  Not  only  is  it  com- 
monly supposed  that  a  man  may  secure  an  exemption  from  just 
punishment  by  repentance,  and  after  serving  sin  for  the  main  part 
of  his  life,  be  prepared  in  a  few  days,  or  hours,  or  even  moments, 
for  heavenly  bliss — but  it  is  also  supposed  by  Arminians,  that  if  a 
christian  be  overtaken  with  sin  at  the  last,  and  die  unpardoned, 
although  the  whole  of  his  former  days  may  have  been  devoted  to 
virtue,  yet  he  shall  sink  to  hell,  and  be  lost  past  redemption  !  It 
is  indeed  impossible  to  avoid  innumerable  and  most  gross  anoma- 
lies in  connexion  with  that  doctrine,  and  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
essentially  absurd  in  itself.  In  the  theory  of  forgiveness  and  of 
punishment,  as  herein  advocated,  and  which  has  been  shown  to 
be  in  striking  agreement  with  scripture  and  fact,  no  such  anoma- 
lies are  involved  :  it  seems  to  meet  all  the  requirements  of  reason 
and  justice — it  reflects  a  glory  and  a  praise  upon  the  all-perfect 
Creator  and  Ruler  of  the  universe — and  it  affords  a  guarantee  that 
the  great  and  benevolent  ends  of  his  government,  (which  can  be 
nothing  less  than  the  promotion  of  the  greatest  possible  amount  of 
eventual  good  to  the  greatest  possible  number  of  his  subjects,) 
shall  be  infallibly  and  triumphantly  achieved. 

"  That  be  far  from  thee,"  said  Abraham,  when  God  had  re- 
vealed to  him  his  purpose  of  destroying  the  Sodomites,  and  the 
patriarch  was  remonstrating  against  the  involving  the  good  and 
the  bad  in  a  common  destruction — "That  be  far  from  thee  to  do 
after  this  manner,  to  slay  the  righteous  with  the  wicked  ;  and  that 
the  righteous  be  as  the  wicked,  that  be  far  from  thee:  Shall  not 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right  1"  (Gen.  xviii.  25.)  Here  was  a 
fitting  occasiou  for  Jehovah  to  have  informed  the  patriarch,  (and 
through  him  the  world,)  that  in  his  present  dispensations  he  does 
not  discriminate  between  persons  of  different  characters,  but  treats 
all  alike,  deferring  unto  a  future  period  the  making  of  those  distinc- 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  263 

tions  which  justice  seems  to  require.  But  no  such  information  did 
Abraham  obtain  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  justness  of  his  remonstrance 
was  practically  acknowledged.  God  did  not  slay  the  righteous 
with  the  wicked,  but  saved  Lot  and  his  family,  whilst  he  over- 
threw with  a  judgment  of  fire  the  wicked  inhabitants  of  the  cities 
of  the  plain.  Nevertheless,  we  are  informed  by  modern  theolo- 
gists,  in  the  face  of  this,  and  of  a  hundred  kindred  scriptural  facts, 
and  the  experience  of  all  ages  and  of  every  day,  that  a  suitable 
distinction  is  not  here  made  betwixt  the  righteous  and  the  wick- 
ed ;  and  therefore,  that  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  infinite  jus- 
tice, there  must  be  a  future  dispensation  for  this  special  end.  Such 
is  the  conclusion — you  have  seen,  reader,  that  the  premises  are 
false,  and,  consequently,  the  conclusion  is  false  also. 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED. 

Dr.  Adam  Clark,  speaking  of  the  English  word  hell,  says, 
"  It  is  derived  from  the  Anglo-Saxon  helan,  which  signifies,  to 
cover,  conceal,  or  hide,  and  hence  the  tiling,  or  covering  of  a  house, 
and  the  covering  of  books  are  to  this  day  called  keling  ,•  and  the 
phrase  to  hell  is  still  used  as  synonymous  with  to  cover,  or  hide, 
in  several  of  the  western  counties  of  England.  Thus  the  true 
and  primitive  meaning  of  the  word  hell,  was  perfectly  accordant 
with  the  idea  suggested  by  the  Hebrew  sheol,  and  the  Greek 
hades,  for,  as  nouns,  all  three  of  these  words  imply  something 
unseen,  concealed,  or  invisible,  and  have,  therefore,  with  propriety 
been  employed  to  convey  the  notion  of  an  unseen  world,  the  grave, 
or  the  state  of  the  dead  in  generaV^  Thus  far  the  great  Arminian 
commentator. 

The  learned  Archbishop  Usher,  has  expressed  the  same  opinion, 
as  follows;  "  We  have  no  word  in  the  French  or  English  lan- 
guage to  express  the  idea  conveyed  by  the  Hebrew  sheol,  or  the 
Greek  hades.  Our  English  word  hell  had  anciently  this  mean- 
ing, being  derived  from  the  German  hell,  to  hide.  Hence,  the 
ancient  Irish  used  to  say  *  hell  the  head,''  meaning  to  cover  the 
head.    So  that  our  hell  then  answered  to  the  Greek  hades,  which 


264  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

signifies  '  an  unseen  place.''  "  To  this  agree,  also,  Dr.  Campbell, 
of  Aberdeen,  and  many  others. 

Not  only  in  regard  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  Old  Testament 
word  rendered  hell,  are  learned  commentators  agreed,  but  also 
in  regard  to  the  fact,  that  the  idea  of  punishment  beyond  death  was 
not  entertained  by  the  Jewish  people,  nor  inculcated  in  their  sacred 
oracles  :  this  must  surely  be  admitted  a  highly  important  conces- 
sion. Look  at  it,  reader.  The  Jewish  economy  continued  down 
to  the  four  thousandth  year  of  the  world,  and  after.  For  all  this 
period,  then,  no  revelation  had  been  made  to  man  concerning 
a  hell  beyond  the  grave.  And  although  Jehovah  had  established 
a  church  on  earth,  and  revealed  to  that  church  his  character  and 
his  laws  ;  although  he  addressed  the  human  will  by  every  motive 
likely  to  influence  it ;  yet,  for  four  thousand  years  and  more,  no 
disclosure  was  made  relative  to  a  fact  the  most  awful  that  finite 
mind  can  contemplate ;  a  fact  (if  true)  which  ought  to  have  been 
traced  in  words  of  flame  on  every  object  in  nature  ! !  ! 

There  was  not  in  the  Hebrew  language  a  word  denoting  such 
a  state  or  place  as  an  ultra-mundane  hell ;  for  although  in  our 
version  of  the  Old  Testament,  we  occasionally  meet  the  word  hell, 
yet  it  is  derived  from  a  term  {sheol)  which  literally  signifies  the 
separate  state.  The  Jews  evidently  supposed  that  all  the  dead  go 
to  the  same  place.  Their  usual  phraseology  in  regard  to  a  de- 
ceased person  was,  (whatever  might  have  been  his  character,) 
"  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers."  Nor  did  this  relate  merely  lo 
the  body  of  such  individual,  for  we  find  it  used  in  reference  to 
those  who  were  interred  in  foreign  lands,  as  well  as  to  such  as 
were  buried  in  the  family  cemetery  with  their  progenitors. 

That  the  term  sheol  suggested  no  idea  to  the  mind  of  a  Jew 
answering  to  the  modern  signification  of  the  word  hell,  must  be 
extremely  apparent  to  every  candid  student  of  the  Old  Testament ; 
see  for  proof  the  following,  among  numerous  similar  instances  of 
the  application  of  this  term. 

When  the  patriarch  Jacob  supposed  his  son  Jacob  to  be  torn  in 
pieces  by  a  wild  beast,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  will  go  down  unto 
Isheoll  the  grave  unto  my  son,  mourning."  (Gen.  xxxv.  37.) 
Job,  in  the  midst  of  his  troubles,  supplicated  his  Maker  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Oh,  that  thou  vvouldst  hide  me  in  [sheol]  the  grave,  that 
thou  wouldst  keep  me  secret  till  thy  wrath  be  past."     (Job,  xiiL 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  265 

14.)  David  exclaims,  on  one  occasion,  "  Oh  Lord,  thou  hast 
brought  up  my  soul  from  [sAeo/]  the  grave."  (Ps.  xxx.  3.)  In 
another  place  the  psalmist  saith,  "For  thou  wilt  not  leave  my 
soul  in  [skeol']  hell,  neither  w^ilt  thou  suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see 
corruption."  (Ps.  xvi,  10.)  Peter  represents  him  as  having  used 
this  language  in  reference  to  Christ.  (Acts  xiii.  15.)  "  The  Lord 
killeth,  and  maketh  alive ;  he  bringeth  dow^n  to  lsheol'\  the  grave, 
and  bringeth  up."     (1  Sam.  ii,  6.) 

"  The  grave  [skeol']  is  my  house."  (Job.)  This  was  no  doubt 
said  in  allusion  to  the  "long-home"  of  man — "the  house  ap- 
pointed for  all  the  living."  Jonah  cried  unto  the  Lord  "  out  of 
the  belly  of  [sheoll  hell."  This  was  while  he  was  in  the  belly 
of  the  fish;  he  viewed  himself  as  already  cut  off  from  the  living, 
and  included  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  separate  state,  and 
therefore  he  says  "  the  earth  with  her  bars  closed  against  me  for- 
ever."    Yet  he  lived  after  this  to  preach  to  the  Ninevites. 

"  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  for 
there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom  in  skeol^ 
whither  thou  goest."  (Eccl.  ix.  10.)  People  cannot  well  be 
tormented  in  flames,  without  knowing  something  about  it,  but 
Solomon  says,  "  there  is  no  knowledge  in  sheolP^  consequently, 
sheol  cannot  be  a  place  of  torment. 

The  king  of  Babylon  was  threatened  with  being  "  brought  down 
to  [skeol]  hell,  to  the  sides  of  the  pit,"  and  that  while  there,  the 
kings  of  the  earth  should  see  him,  and  taunt  him  with  his  former 
boasted  greatness,  saying,  "  Is  this  the  man  that  made  the  earth  to 
tremble'?  (Isa.  xiv.  15, 16.)  Hell  [sheol']  is  confounded  with  "the 
nether  parts  of  the  earth."  (Ezek.  xxi.  22.)  In  Amos  ix.  the 
Lord  threatens  to  bring  the  sword  upon  the  Jewish  nation,  and  he 
says,  "  Though  they  dig  into  [sheoll  hell,  thence  shall  my  hand 
take  them." 

These  must  fully  suffice  to  show  that  sheol,  in  Old  Testament 
times,  was  not  supposed  a  receptacle  of  damned  spirits.  Jacob 
surely  did  not  imagine  that  his  beloved  Joseph  had  gone  to 
a  world  of  misery — nor  did  he  expect  that  his  own  gray  hairs 
would  sink  in  sorrow  to  such  a  place — neither  did  David  allude 
to  a  realm  of  fire  when  he  said  his  soul  should  not  be  left  in  hell 
— nor  did  Jonah  mistake  the  whale's  belly  for  such  a  realm — nor 
did  Peter  think  that  Christ's  soul  went,  at  death,  to  a  hell  of 

Vol.  I.— X  No.  12. 


266  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

modern  description.  No,  no ;  no  such  spectre-peopled  limbo  as 
starts  up  in  modern  imaginations  at  the  mention  of  that  word,  was 
ever  associated  witii  it  in  the  minds  of  the  inspired  writers. 

The  same  is  on  all  hands,  acknowledged  true  in  regard  to  the 
Greek  term  hades  ^  which,  by  the  most  eminent  critics,  is  defined 
as  signifying  an  unseen  state;  and  is  literally  used  to  denote  the 
state  of  the  dead  in  general.  This  (even  if  we  set  aside  the 
etymological  evidence  in  the  case,)  is  most  satisfactorily  proven 
by  the  fact,  that  the  seventy  Jews  who  translated  the  Hebrew 
scriptures  into  Greek,  under  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  about  270 
years  before  Christ,  have  employed  hades  as  a  corresponding 
word  for  sheol^  and  it  so  stands  in  their  version,  called  the  Septu- 
agent,  from  which  Christ  and  his  apostles  were  in  the  habit  of 
quoting.  It  is  true,  that  of  the  eleven  times  it  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament,  King  James'  translators  have  but  once  rendered  it  by 
the  word  grave  ,•  but  it  is  exceedingly  manifest  that,  in  all  its 
literal  applications,  grave  or  the  separate  state,  would  have  better 
conveyed  the  sense  of  the  original,  than  does  the  term  hell. 

Both  sheol  and  hades  are  occasionally  used  in  the  scriptures 
in  a  figurative,  or  accommodated  signification ;  between  which 
and  the  primary  idea,  there  is  undoubtedly  a  close  analogy. 
Previous  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  the  ideas  of  men 
respecting  the  future  state  were  vague,  dark,  and  uncertain  ;  we 
must  all  remember  that  such  were  our  own  feelings,  in  our  child- 
hood, in  relation  to  death  and  its  consequences  ;  an  uneasiness — 
a  terror  of  an  indefinable  nature,  is  the  natural  state  of  the  mind 
in  relation  to  that  undisclosed  realm  beyond  the  grave,  until  the 
light  and  hopes  of  the  gospel  have  calmed  the  fears  of  the 
spirit,  and  composed  its  flutterings.  It  is  then  not  to  be  won 
dered  at,  that  the  Jews,  to  whom  the  state  of  the  dead  was 
equally  undefined,  should  occasionally  accommodate  the  terms 
sheol,  and  hades,  to  express  a  condition  of  mental  suffering  and  dis- 
quietude, proceeding  from  whatever  cause,  more  especially  from 
remorse  of  conscience.  Such  is  unquestionably  the  meaning  of 
these  words  in  their  figurative  application. 

David  says,  "  The  sorrows  of  death  compassed  me,  and  the 
pains  of  [sheol']  hell  got  hold  of  me.  I  found  trouble  and  sor- 
row." (Ps.  cxvi.  3.)  Now  all  this  occurred  to  him  in  this  life ; 
and  intense  as  these  hell-sufferings  were,  yet  he  survived  them, 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  267 

for  he  continues,  "  In  my  distress  I  cried  unto  God,  he  stooped 
from  above,  he  took  me,  he  drew  me  out  of  many  waters."  Let 
it  be  remembered,  that  although  the  general  tenor  of  David's  life 
was  upright,  yet  there  were  instances  in  which  he  very  greatly 
sinned.  It  was,  therefore,  meet  that  he  should  greatly  suffer, 
which  he  did,- as  appears  from  the  text  just  quoted,  and  the  fol- 
lowing truth  was  no  doubt  recorded  from  his  own  bitter  experi- 
ence. 

"  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  [sheol]  hell,  with  all  the 
nations  that  forget  God."  (Ps.  ix.  17.)  That  is  to  say,  moral 
darkness,  degradation  and  misery  shall  be  their  infallible  portion. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  national,  as  well  as  personal  damnation. 
"  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation,  but  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any 
people."  (Prov.  xiv.  34.)  The  nations  of  the  plain  were  turned 
ir.to  sheol  literally,  i.  e.  into  the  invisible  state.  The  Jewish 
nation  was  often  turned  into  sheol  morally,  i.  e.  into  the  blind,  ab- 
ject, enslaved,  unhappy  state,  to  which  forgetfulness  of  God  in- 
variably sinks  an  individual  or  nation.  "  Because  of  the  trans- 
gression of  a  land,  many  are  the  princess  thereof."  (Prov.  xxviii. 
2.)  How  true  is  thisi  Wickedness  disposes  a  people  to  be 
slaves,  and  they  multiply  their  princes  or  oppressors  accordingly. 
But  free,  and  "  happy  is  that  people  wnose  God  is  the  Lord." 
(Ps.  cxliv.  15.) 

David  had  not  only  been  in  sheol,  but  the  lowest  sheol.  Never- 
theless, he  survived  to  thank  God  for  his  deliverance.  "  Great  is 
thy  mercy  towards  me,  for  thou  hast  delivered  my  soul  from  the 
lowest  Isheof]  hell."  (Ps.  Ixxxvi.  13.)  His  soul,  prostrated 
under  an  overwhelming  sense  of  guilt  (probably  on  account  of 
his  cruel  conduct  in  the  case  of  Uriah)  experienced  a  depth  of 
moral  wretchedness  not  to  be  described,  save  by  the  expressive 
phrase  "  lowest  sheol.''^  Now  there  cannot  be  a  lower  than  the 
loy^est,  and  the  wise  man,  as  well  as  the  psalmist,  testifies,  that 
the  state  implied  in  this  expression  is  experienced  in  this  life. 
Speaking  of  the  wicked  woman,  Solomon  says,  "  her  guests  are 
in  the  depths  of  \_sheol'\  hell.:'  (Prov.  ix.  18.)  Yes  !  the  deluded 
debauchee  greatly  mistakes  his  road  to  happiness,  while  he  is 
rioting  in  brutal  gratification ;  midnight  gloom  settles  upon  his 
soul,  and,  in  regard  to  moral  enjoyment,  it  resembles  a  waste  and 
Jjarched  desert,  without  one  verdant  spot  on  which  his  hopes  caa 


268  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

light  for  sustenance.  There  is  still  another  instance  of  the  use  of 
this  phrase.  The  reader  may  examine  it,  and  determine  whether 
it  can  be  referred  to  a  future  life. 

**  For  a  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger,  and  shall  bum  unto  the 
lowest  [skeol]  helU  and  shall  consume  the  earth  with  her  in- 
crease, and  set  on  fire  the  foundations  of  the  mountains.  I  will 
heap  mischiefs  upon  them  ;  I  will  spend  mine  arrows  upon  them. 
I  will  also  send  the  teeth  of  beasts  upon  them,  with  the  poison 
of  serpents  of  the  dust.  The  sword  without,  and  the  terror  within, 
shall  destroy  both  the  young  man  and  the  virgin,  the  suckling 
also,  with  the  man  of  gray  hairs."  (Deut.  xxxii.  22 — 25.)  I  have 
quoted  thus  much,  that  the  reader  may  the  more  readily  perceive 
its  inapplicability  to  the  spiritual  state.  And  yet  it  is  not  very 
uncommon  for  learned  ministers  to  quote  certain  detached  parts  of 
it  with  such  a  reference  I  This  text  expresses  what  should  be 
the  fate  of  the  Jewish  nation  when  it  should  "  forget  God ;"  and 
such  shall  be  the  fate  of  all  nations  similarly  guilty. 

And  now,  reader,  need  more  be  added  for  your  conviction  con- 
cerning the  meaning  of  the  term  sheol?  If  it  properly  refers  to 
a  place  of  ceaseless  suffering,  is  it  not  surprising  that  it  is  not 
once  used  in  the  bible  in  express  reference  to  such  a  place  1  Yet 
«iip.V(  is  thfi  fA^^t — as  miist  be  acknowledged  by  every  candid  biblical 
student.  Observe,  this  is  the  only  hell  of  which  the  world  knew 
any  thing  authentically  for  4000  years  !  If  there  be  any  truth  in 
the  modern  dogma  concerning  an  infernal  prison  in  a  future  world, 
is  it  not  very  remarkable  that  Jehovah  did  not  disclose  the  mo-> 
mentous  fact  to  his  covenant  people,  amidst  the  many  threatnings 
which  he  denounced  against  them  in  case  they  should  relapse 
into  idolatry  1  It  really  seems  to  me  incredible,  that  a  circum- 
stance of  such  immense  consequence  should  have  been  kept 
secret — seeing  a  truth  of  this  nature  is  of  such  vast  concern  to 
mankind,  and  their  utter  ignorance  respecting  it  for  so  many  ages, 
is  certainly  no  inconsiderable  evidence  that  no  such  place  exists. 

The  same  remarks  are  applicable  to  hades,-  the  most  striking 
instance  of  its  figurative  application  is  in  the  parable  of  the  rich 
man  and  Lazarus.  I  have  already  noticed  this  at  some  length, 
and  shown  that  it  cannot  be  understood  as  belonging  to  a  future 
world  without  gross  impropriety  ;  because  the  party  represented 
therein  as  having  gone  to  hades,  (or  rather  as  having  been  buried 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  269 

tnAaJes,  as  Dr.  Clarke  maintains  is  ihe  literal  rendering,)  is  spoken 
of,  nevertheless,  as  still  possessing  all  his  bodily  organs,  and  as 
subject  to  material  influences;  which  proves  that  the  parable  does 
not  relate  to  the  vt'orld  of  spirits,  but  to  the  present  life  ;  and  such 
also  is  most  manifestly  the  case  with  all  the  Savior's  parables. 

The  state  literally  referred  to  in  these  terms  is  doomed  to  final 
destruction.  "  I  will  ransom  them  from  the  power  of  [sAeo/]  the 
grave;  I  will  redeem  them  from  death:  0  death,  I  will  be  thy 
plagues;  0  [skeol']  grave,  I  will  be  thy  destruction  !"  (Hos.  xiii. 
14.)  Paul  plainly  intimates  the  destruction  of  hades  in  his  trea- 
tise on  the  resurrection  ;  for  this  is  then  to  be  included  in  the 
universal  overthrow  of  all  the  enemies  to  human  purity  and  hap- 
piness:  hence  he  exclaims,  "O  hadts^  where  is  thy  victory  !" 
(1  Cor.  XV.  55.)  It  is  also  intimated  in  the  20lh  chapter  of  Reve- 
lation, under  the  figure  of  being  '-cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."  It 
were  absurd  to  attach  the  idea  of  torment  to  the  phrase  lake  of  fire 
here,  {ox  death  and  hades  cannot  suffer  torment;  and  since  the  tenor 
of  inspiration  is  clear  as  to  their  final  extinction,  it  is  but  rational 
to  understand  the  passage  under  notice  as  containing  an  allegori- 
cal representation  of  that  event. 

Thus  much  for  sheol  and  hades.  Is  it  not  surprising  that  these 
evident,  these  indisputable  bible  facts,  require,  at  this  late  date,  to 
be  disclosed  to  the  English  reader?  For  what  have  men  been 
studying  divinity  for  eighteen  centuries  ]  For  what  have  splendid 
colleges  and  churches  been  erected,  and  millions  on  millions  of 
money  been  expended  for  the  business  of  religious  instruction? 
if,  after  all,  mankind  are  kept  in  utter  ignorance  regarding  bible 
truths  of  the  most  important  character,  aud  very  nearly  affecting 
their  happiness  and  moral  interests  !  "  The  wicked  shall  be  turned 
into  hell."  From  these  words  how  oft  has  been  inculcated  the 
horrid  dogma,  that  there  is  a  vast  furnace  of  fire  beyond  the  con- 
fines of  time,  in  which  the  deathless  spirit  shall  be  tormented  for 
its  present  crimes  after  it  leaves  the  body,  for  inconsumable  ages ! 
And  shall  such  also  be  the  fate  of  entire  nations?  for  the  above 
text  includes  in  the  same  doom,  ♦'  all  the  nations  that  forget  God.'* 
Ah  !  the  preacher  finds  it  impolitic  to  shock  the  credulity  of  men, 
by  portraying  damnation  on  a  scale  of  such  magnitude  as  this; 
and  he  very  prudently,  therefore,  leaves  the  latter  clause  of  the 
text  without  an  application,   He  is  careful,  also,  not  to  inform  his 

Vol,  I.— X  3 


270  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

hearers  that  David  had  himself  been  in  this  hell,  as  well  as  Jonah ; 
and  that  neither  of  these  were  under  the  necessity  of  dying  in 
order  to  arrive  thereat.  We  will  now  pass  to  the  consideration  of 
a  different  word. 

Gehenna.  This  term  refers  literally  to  a  valley  near  Jerusalem, 
where,  formerly,  Moloch  or  Baal  was  worshipped  ;  it  was  also 
called  Tophet,  and  the  valley  of  Hinnom.  It  used  to  be  the  scene 
of  a  most  cruel  species  of  idolatry,  where  children  were  made  to 
pass  alive  through  the  fire  to  a  grim  deity.  This  odious  worship 
was  abolished  (at  least  in  this  place)  by  Josiah,  king  of  Judah. 
•'And  he  defiled  Topheth,  which  is  in  the  valley  of  the  children  of 
Hinnom,  that  no  man  might  make  his  son  or  his  daughter  to  pass 
through  the  fire  to  Moloch."  (2  Kings  xxiii.  10.)  In  order  to 
pollute  tiie  place  more  effectually,  it  was  fixed  on  for  the  public 
execution  of  criminals,  whose  bodies  were  permitted  to  lie  there 
unburied.  Thither  also  was  conveyed  all  manner  of  filth  from  the 
city,  so  that  it  became  the  most  loathsome  place  conceivable.  In 
later  times  it  became  necessary,  in  order  to  prevent  a  pestilence,  to 
keep  up  a  continual  fire,  for  the  purpose  of  consuming  the  putrid 
matter  thus  collected.  To  this  fire,  and  to  the  worms  which  con- 
tinually bred  in  this  place,  reference  is  had  in  the  expression, 
"  where  the  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched." 

That  the  term  Gehenna  primarily  refers  to  this  valley,  is  uni- 
versally admitted  by  the  learned ;  they  pretend,  to  be  sure,  that 
it  came  to  be  used  in  later  times  with  reference  to  the  infernal 
regions ;  which,  indeed,  is  true  enough ;  for  it  is  so  understood, 
at  present,  by  most  Jews,  and  a  majority  of  Christians.  But, 
how  late  were  the  times  when  it  came  to  be  so  used  %  This  ques- 
tion is  one  of  some  importance  in  this  discussion ;  was  it  so  used 
in  the  days  of  Christ  %  Oh,  what  strenuous  efforts  have  been 
made  to  establish  the  affirmative  of  this  question !  The  proof 
chiefly  relied  on  to  this  end,  is  that  of  certain  Jewish  lalmudic 
writings  ;  but  when  the  antiquity  of  these  is  inquired  into  impar- 
tially, it  is  found  that  they  do  not  go  back  to  the  times  of  the 
Savior  by  several  centuries,  (that  is,  those  targums  which  speak 
of  Gehenna  at  all.)  But  suppose  it  were  otherwise ;  suppose  that 
these  rabbinical  scholiae  could  be  traced  back  to  the  earliest  date 
claimed  for  them,  it  would  then  seem  singular  enough  that  a  hell 
should  have  been  in  existence  for  forty  centuries  without  a  name ; 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  271 

and  that  no  suitable  designation  was  found  for  it  until  one  was 
borrowed  from  a  notoriously  loathsome  valley,  adjoining  the  city 
of  Jerusalem!  Does  this  seem  probable'?  Ninety-nine  hundredths 
of  mankind,  for  more  than  a  hundred  generations,  had  passed 
through  a  brief  life  of  earthly  misery,  to  a  world  of  unceasing 
burnings  ;  and  yet  that  world  was  without  a  name  ! 

I  confess  there  are  a  few  texts,  which  to  the  common  reader, 
with  prejudices  in  its  favor,  appear,  at  first  sight,  to  sanction  this 
use  of  the  word  Gehenna.  I  therefore  propose  subjecting  all  the 
passages  of  this  character  to  a  candid  investigation,  begging  the 
reader  to  bear  in  mind  that  this  is  a  question  in  which  the  divine 
wisdom  and  goodness  are  deeply  concerned,  and  that  in  conse- 
quence we  ought  to  form  our  conclusions  with  the  utmost  caution, 
since  in  them  is  involved  no  less  a  decision  than,  whether  it  shall 
be  the  fate  of  unconceived  myriads  of  our  race  to  endure  the  wrath 
of  God  through  future  endless  ages. 

"  But  I  say  unto  you.  That  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother 
without  a  cause,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment;  and  who- 
soever shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca,  shall  be  in  danger  ofi 
the  council  ;  but  whosoever  shall  say.  Thou  fool,  shall  be  in 
danger  of  hell-fire."  (Malt.  v.  22.)  I  cannot  do  better  than  to 
quote  a  commentary  on  this  text  from  Alexander  Campbell,  who 
surely  will  not  be  suspected  of  wishing  to  refute  the  dogma  which 
I  am  opposing,  for  he  is  at  this  time  engaged  in  a  strenuous  effort 
to  maintain  it. 

"  Thompson  translates  Matt.  v.  22,  thus  :  '  Whosoever  is  angry 
with  his  brother  without  cause,  shall  be  liable  to  the  sentence  of 
the  judges  ;  and  whoever  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca^  (a  con- 
temptuous v/ord.)  shall  be  liable  to  the  sentence  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim ;  and  whoever  shall  say,  3Iorch,  (a  reproachful  word,)  shall 
be  liable  (to  be  sentenced)  to  the  vale  of  fire,'  or,  to  the  Gehenna 
of  fire. 

"  In  the  common  translation  of  this  verse,  there  is  a  confound- 
ing of  things  present  and  future,  of  things  human  and  divine, 
that  badly  comports  with  the  wisdom  and  dignity  of  the  speaker. 
Wl:at  affinity  exists  between  judges,  a  council,  and  hell-fire  • 
Why  should  one  expression  of  anger  only  subject  a  person  to 
human  judges,  and  another  subject  him  to  hell-fire,  in  the  usual 
sense  of  these  words  ?    Now,  if  the  terms  in  this  verse  conveyed 


272  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALTSM. 

the  same  meaning  to  us  which  they  conveyed  to  the  audience  which 
the  Savior  at  that  time  addressed,  we  would  discover  a  propriety 
and  beauty  in  them  which  is  not  manifest  in  the  common  transla- 
tions of  them.  The  fact  is,  that  the  allusions  in  this  verse  are  all  to 
human  institutions,  or  customs  among  the  Jews  ;  and  the  judges, 
the  Sanhedrim,  and  the  hell-fire  here  introduced,  are  all  human 
punishments.  Parkhurst  observes,  on  the  phrase  Gehenna  ton 
puros,  (a  Gehenna  of  fire,)  that,  in  its  outward  and  primary  sense, 
it  relates  to  that  dreadful  doom  of  being  burnt  alive  in  the  valley 
of  Hinnom. 

"  The  sentence  of  the  city  councils,  which  extended  in  certain 
instances,  to  strangling  a  person,  is  one  of  the  allusions.  These 
councils  were  composed  of  twenty-three  judges,  and  were  an  infe- 
rior court  amongst  the  Jews.  The  Sanhedrim,  or  council  o( seventy- 
two  senators,  whose  sentence  authorized  stoning  to  death,  and 
which  was  the  superior  court  of  that  people,  constitutes  the  second 
allusion.  The  burning  a  person  alive  in  the  vale  of  Hinnom,  is 
the  third.  By  these  allusions  he  teaches  his  audience  that  anger 
in  the  heart,  anger  expressed  in  the  way  of  contempt,  and  anger 
expressed  with  manifest  malice,  would,  under  his  reign,  subject 
them  to  such  diversities  of  punishment,  as  they  were  wont  to  ap- 
portion to  atrocious  actions,  according  to  their  views  of  criminality. 

"  The  following  translation  of  this  verse  is  expressive  of  the  full 
sense  of  the  original.  *  Whosoever  is  vainly  incensed  against 
his  brother,  shall  be  obnoxious  to  the  sentence  of  the  judges,  (the 
court  of  twenty-three;)  whoever  shall  say  to  his  brother,(inthe  way 
of  contempt,)  Shallow-brains,  shall  be  obnoxious  to  the  Sanhedrim ; 
and  whosoever  shall  say,  Apostate  wretch,  (the  highest  expression 
of  malice,)  shall  be  obnoxious  to  the  Gehenna  of  fire,'  or  to  being 
burned  alive  in  the  vale  of  Hinnom.  This  translation  is  in  sub- 
stance approved  by  Adam  Clarke,  and  other  critics  of  respecta- 
bility." 

"  And  if  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off:  it  is  better  for  thee  to 
enter  into  life  maimed,  than  having  two  hands  to  go  into  hell, 
into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched  ;  where  their  worm  dieth 
not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.  And  if  thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut 
it  off":  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  halt  into  life,  than  having  two 
feet  to  be  cast  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched  ; 
where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.   And  if 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  273 

thine  eye  offend  thee,  pluck  it  out:  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  with  one  eye,  than  having  two  eyes  to  be 
cast  into  hell-fire ;  where  their  worm  dielh  not,  and  the  fire  is  not 
quenched."  (Mark  ix.  43—48.)  Life,  in  this  passage,  signifies 
gospel  faith  and  enjoyment;  "he  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life;" 
it  cannot  mean  a  future  life  of  bliss,  for  persons  do  not  pass  to  a 
state  of  heavenly  felicity,  with  their  bodies  maimed  and  mutilated. 
Nothing  can  be  more  ridiculous  than  the  referring  such  texts  to 
a  future  world !  Do  the  wicked  go  to  hell  whole  and  sound  in 
health  and  limb,  whilst  the  righteous  go  to  heaven  in  a  crippled 
state  1  I  suppose  that  Gehenna,  in  this  passage,  is  accommodated 
to  express  whatever  of  evil  and  misery  were  incurred  by  a  rejec- 
tion of  the  Savior.  In  my  remarks  on  the  25th  chapter  of 
Matthew,  I  alluded  to  the  nature  of  these  sufferings. 

Be  it  borne  in  mind,  that  this  was  a  place  of  most  disgustful 
BOtoriety  throughout  Judea,  and  had  been  for  many  centuries. 
The  Jews  were  as  familiar  with  its  name  as  we  are  with  the 
term  penitentiary  ,•  and  the  word  Gehenna  was  as  certainly  asso- 
ciated in  their  minds  with  the  idea  of  the  loathsome  valley  of 
Hinnom,  as  ihe  term  penitentiary  is  in  ours  wiih  that  of  a  place 
of  penal  confinement.  Now  this  being  the  case,  as  the  learned 
will  admit,  do  you  think  it  probable,  reader,  that  Christ  would  use 
this  word  with  reference  to  the  invisible  state,  without  apprising 
his  hearers,  in  express  terms,  that  he  did  so  use  it,  and  not  ac- 
cording to  its  common  signification  ?  Suppose  a  preacher,  in  our 
day,  were  to  threaten  his  hearers  with  a  severe  punishment  in  the 
penitentiary  in  case  of  impenitence,  would  they  be  likely  to  un- 
derstand him  as  referring  to  an  endless  hell  1  Yet  there  is  actually 
as  much  of  a  relation  to  eternity  in  this  threatening  as  in  that  of 
being  punished  in  Gehenna. 

Perhaps  we  shall  belter  understand  the  meaning  of  Christ's 
allusion  to  Gehenna,  when  addressing  the  rejecters  of  his  gospel, 
if  we  attentively  consider  the  following  passage.  "  And  they  have 
built  the  high  places  of  Tophet,  which  is  in  the  valley  of  the  son 
of  Hinnom,  to  burn  their  sons  and  their  daughters  in  the  fire; 
which  1  commanded  them  not,  neither  came  it  into  my  heart.  There- 
fore, behold,  the  days  come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  it  shall  no  more 
be  called  Tophet,  nor  The  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  but  The 
valley  of  Slaughter ;  for  they  shall  bury  in  Tophet,  till  there  be 


274  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

no  place.  And  the  carcasses  of  this  people  shall  be  meat  for  the 
fowls  of  the  heaven,  and  for  the  beasts  of  the  earth  ;  and  none 
shall  fray  them  away.  Then  will  I  cause  lo  cease  from  the  cities 
of  Judah,  and  from  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  the  voice  of  mirth, 
and  the  voice  of  gladness,  the  voice  of  the  bridgroom,  and  the 
voice  of  the  bride ;  for  the  land  shall  be  desolate."  (Jer.  vii.  31 — 
34.)  This  prediction  had  not  yet  received  its  accomplishment, 
but  its  fulfilment  was  nigh  at  hand  ;  it  was  fearfully  impending. 
Christ  told  the  Pharisees,  "  These  be  the  days  of  vengeance, 
in  which  all  things  written  in  the  prophets  shall  be  fulfilled;"  and 
that  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  shed  in  past  ages,  should  be  visited 
on  that  generation ;  hence  he  asks  them,  "  How  can  ye  escape  the 
damnation  of  Gehenna  ?"  (Matt,  xxiii.  33.)  It  is  manifest,  from 
the  nature  of  this  prediction,  that  it  looked  forward  to  the  great 
national  judgment  on  the  Jewish  people,  when  they  were  driven 
from  their  country,  and  cut  oif  from  all  their  former  distinguished 
privileges.  Josephus  informs  us  that  nearly  half  a  million  of 
them  were  slaughtered  in  Jerusalem  alone,  and  that  their  carcasses 
were  cast  out  into  Gahenna,  or  the  valley  of  Hinnom. 
■  But  some  people  think  that  the  phrase  "  shall  not  be  quenched,'* 
must  refer  to  something  absolutely  eternal,  "  for,  if  not  quenched 
(say  they)  it  must  burn  unceasingly."  This  does  not  necessarily 
follow,  however ;  a  fire  cannot  be  said  to  be  quenched  which  ex- 
pires of  itself,  for  want  of  combustible  matter  to  support  it ;  and 
we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  was  the  case  with  the  fire  of 
Gehenna,  for  Isaiah  has  explicitly  recorded  that  such  was  Jeho- 
vah's determination.  "  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  that  from  one 
new  moon  to  another,  and  from  one  sabbath  to  another,  shall  all 
flesh  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  the  Lord.  And  they  shall 
go  forth,  and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men  that  have  trans- 
gressed against  me  :  for  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall 
their  fire  be  quenched  ;  and  they  shall  be  an  abhorring  unto  all 
flesh."  (Isa.  Ixvi.  23,  24.)  Sabbaths,  new  moons,  flesh,  and  car- 
casses, have  no  relation  to  eternity.  This  text  must  therefore  refer 
to  a  circumstance  of  time.  The  same,  no  doubt,  to  which  Christ 
alludes,  viz  :  The  unquenched  fire  and  ever-breeding  worms  of  the 
valley  of  Hinnom.  The  phrase  "  shall  not  be  quenched,"  occurs 
in  several  other  places  in  the  scripture,  in  such  connexion  as  leaves 
no  room  for  doubt  as  to  the  limited  duration  of  the  judgment  it  ex» 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  275 

presses.  "  Then  will  I  kindle  a  fire  in  the  gates  thereof,  and  it 
shall  devour  the  palaces  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  shall  not  be 
quenched.'*''  (Jer.  xvii.  27.)  "  Behold,  mine  anger  and  my  fury- 
shall  be  poured  out  upon  this  place,  upon  man,  and  upon  heast^  and 
upon  the  trees  of  the  field,  and  upon  \he  fruit  of  the  ground,  and  it 
shall  burn,  and  shall  not  he  quenched.''^  (Jer.  vii.  20.)  It  is  hoped 
that  those  who  contend  for  ceaseless  suffering  on  the  strength 
of  this  expression,  will  not  include  among  the  subjects  of  that  suf- 
fering, gates,  palaces,  beasts,  trees,  and  fruits  of  the  ground !  They 
should  at  least  limit  their  tender  mercies  to  the  subjects  of  sensa- 
tion !  See  to  the  same  effect,  Ezek.  xx.  47,  48.  "  And  say  to 
the  forest  of  the  south.  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  :  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God,  Behold,  I  will  kindle  a  fire  in  thee,  and  it  shall 
devour  every  green  tree  in  thee,  and  every  dry  tree :  the  flaming 
flame  shall  not  be  quenched,  and  all  faces  from  the  south  to  the 
north  shall  be  burned  therein.  And  all  flesh  shall  see  that  I  the 
Lord  have  kindled  it :  it  shall  not  be  quenched.''^  In  the  following 
passage  concerning  the  destruction  of  Idumea,  this  phrase  occurs 
in  a  form  much  stronger  than  in  Mark.  *'  And  the  streams  thereof 
shall  be  turned  into  pitch,  and  the  dust  thereof  into  brimstone, 
and  the  land  thereof  shall  become  burning  pitch.  It  shall  not  be 
quenched  night  nor  day ;  the  smoke  thereof  shall  go  up  for  ever: 
from  generation  to  generation  it  shall  lie  waste  ;  none  shall  pass 
through  it  for  ever  and  ever."  (Isa.  xxxiv.  9,  10.)  It  will  be  ap- 
parent to  the  candid  reader,  from  these  passages,  that  the  phrase 
shall  not  be  quenched,  in  its  scriptural  applications,  is  not  to  be 
understood  as  implying  that  the  fire  is  to  burn  to  eternity,  nor 
even  that  it  is  expressive  of  suffering  beyond  the  present  life. 
The  Jews  were  so  accustomed  to  these  expressions  in  their  sacred 
writings,  where  they  invariably  refer  to  circumstances  of  time, 
that  they  were  in  no  danger  of  being  misled  with  regard  to  their 
meaning  as  employed  by  the  Savior. 

When  Christ  sent  his  disciples  out  to  preach,  he  gave  them  the 
following  caution  :  "  And  fear  not  them  which  kill  the  body,  but 
are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul ;  but  rather  fear  him  which  is  able  to 
destroy  both  soul  and  body  in  hell."  (Matt.  x.  28.)  "And  I  say 
unto  you,  my  friends,  be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and 
after  that,  have  no  more  that  they  can  do :  but  I  will  forewarn 
you  whom  ye  shall  fear;  fear  him,  which  after  he  hath  killed. 


276  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

hath  power  to  cast  into  hell ;  yea,  I  say  unto  you,  fear  him." 
(Luke  xii.  4,  5.) 

It  is  usually  supposed  that  Gehenna  must  here  imply  a  hell 
beyond  the  grave,  because  the  destruction  of  the  soul,  as  well  as 
the  body,  is  threatened.  But  there  are  two  facts  in  the  way  of 
this  position ;  the  first  is,  that  the  word  (psuche)  rendered  soul 
in  this  place,  more  properly  signifies  the  animal  life,  and  is  so 
rendered  in  numerous  instances.  This  criticism,  the  correctness 
of  which  will  not  be  disputed,  removes  the  ground  of  the  sup- 
position at  once.  The  second  fact  is,  that  the  body,  which  those 
whom  they  were  told  not  to  fear  had  the  power  to  kill,  is  not 
liable  to  destruction  in  a  hell  beyond  the  grave,  but  returns  to  the 
dust  of  the  earth  from  whence  it  originated.  How  then  can 
Gehenna,  in  this  instance,  imply  a  place  of  torment  in  a  future 
state?  It  cannot.  We  must,  therefore,  seek  a  more  consistent 
explanation  of  this  passage  than  that  which  is  usually  given. 

Some  think  that  the  allusion  here  is  to  the  Roman  authority, 
personified,  which  had  power,  after  killing  the  body,  to  deny  it 
burial,  and  cast  it  into  Gehenna  ^  or  to  destroy  the  life  and  the 
body  together  in  Gehenna,  by  burning  alive,  which  was  a  mode 
of  punishment  practiced  in  that  day  on  the  highest  class  of  oflfen- 
ders.  If  such  was  indeed  the  Savior's  allusion,  the  following  par- 
aphrase may  well  convey  the  sense  of  the  passage.  "I  say  unto 
you,  my  disciples,  (for  they  are  the  party  addressed,)  that  so  long 
as  you  are  faithful  to  the  objects  of  the  mission  on  which  I  now 
send  you,  you  have  nothing  to  fear  from  your  persecutors,  for  not 
a  hair  of  your  heads  shall  perish  unpermitted  of  your  Father  in 
heaven.  Entertain  no  fears,  therefore,  in  regard  to  them  :  at  the 
most,  they  can  but  kill  the  body.  You  will  in  that  case  die  a 
martyred  and  honored  death  ;  but  even  this  shall  not  befall  you, 
except  by  your  heavenly  Father's  permission  for  your  good.  Be- 
ware, however,  that  you  run  not  into  unlawful  excesses;  presume 
not  on  the  divine  protection,  if  you  should  wantonly  transgress  the 
laws  of  the  land,  but  apprehend  the  fearful  award  of  the  civil  ma- 
gistrate, who,  after  killing  the  body,  has  power  to  cast  it  into  Ge- 
henna, or  (by  dooming  you  to  be  burnt  alive)  to  destroy  the  life 
and  body  together,  in  that  loathsome  place."  Peter  uses  a  cau- 
tion of  similar  import,  to  those  whom  he  addresses  in  his  epis- 
tles.   "  Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  277 

which  is  to  try  you,  as  though  some  strange  thing  happened  unto 
you  :  but  rejoice,  inasmuch  as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's  suflfer- 
ings  ;  that,  when  his  glory  shall  be  revealed,  ye  may  be  glad  also 
with  exceeding  joy.  If  ye  be  reproached  for  the  name  of  Christ, 
hiippy  are  ye  ;  for  ihe  spirit  of  glory  and  of  God  resieth  upon  you  : 
on  their  part  he  is  evil  spoken  of,  but  on  your  part  he  is  glorified. 
But  let  none  of  you  suffer  as  a  murderer,  or  as  a  thief,  or  as  an 
evil-doer,  or  as  a  busy-body  in  other  men's  matters.  Yet  if  any 
man  suffer  as  a  christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed  ;  but  let  him 
glorify  God  on  this  behalf."  (1.  Peter  iv.  12—16.)  Others  again 
think  that  Jehovah  is  alluded  to  as  the  object  to  be  feared,  not 
on  the  ground  of  his  ability  to  destroy  in  a  hell  beyond  the  grave, 
(for  Gehenna,  in  that  day,  was  not  received  in  any  such  sense,)  but 
in  reference  to  his  power  to  involve  them  in  a  common  destruc- 
tion with  that  portion  of  their  countrymen  who  should  obstinately 
reject  the  gospel.  To  me  this  seems  the  most  probable  construc- 
tion of  the  text ;  for  Gehenna  was  associated  in  the  minds  of  Jews 
with  every  thing  horrid,  loathsome,  and  abominable.  Christ  tells 
the  Pharisees  that  they  made  their  converts  "  two-fold  more  the 
children  oWehenna  than  themselves  ;"  and  James,  speaking  of  the 
tongue,  says,  "  it  is  set  on  fire  of  Gehenna.''''  Should  we  be  at  a 
loss  to  understand  a  person  who  should  say,  that  the  converts  made 
to  such  and  such  principles  were  made  the  children  of  the  peniten- 
tiary ?  The  meaning,  I  think,  would  be  sufliciently  obvious  to  us ; 
we  should  understand  it  to  imply,  that  they  had  become  fitted,  by 
the  evil  principles  they  had  imbibed,  for  such  practices  as  might 
subject  them  to  the  penitentiary.  Well,  then,  as  before  observed, 
Gehenna  was  a  place  of  as  great  and  of  as  odious  notoriety,  in  that 
day,  as  is  the  prison,  or  penitentiary  in  ours ;  for  the  former  was 
not  only  a  receptacle  for  the  unburied  carcasses  of  criminals,  and 
the  filth  and  offals  from  the  vast  and  over-populated  city  of  Jerusa- 
lem, but  it  was  also  a  place  of  criminal  execution.  The  Jews,  it  is 
well  known,  held  themselves  polluted  if  they  came  in  contact  with 
a  dead  body,  and  it  may  well  be  conceived,  therefore,  what  a  hor- 
ror they  entertained  in  regard  to  so  nauseous  and  loathsome  a 
place  as  by  all  accounts  the  valley  of  Hinnom  was. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles 
ever  used  the  word  Gehenna  except  when  addressing  Jews  :  to 
Gentiles  the  reference  would   have  been   unintelligible.     Paul, 

Vol.  I.— Y 


278  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

"who  calls  himself  "  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,"  never  once  used 
it,  nor  any  other  term  answering  to  the  modern  idea  of  hell.  It 
is  somewhat  singular — nay,  it  is  very  remarkable,  that  while  all 
other  nations  had  their  respective  hells,  the  Jews,  who  were  es- 
pecially instructed  in  religion  by  Jehovah,  for  the  space  of  2000 
years,  were  without  any  ideas  on  the  subject !  Should  not  this 
fact  alone  suffice  to  prove,  that  the  doctrine  of  a  region  of  suffer- 
ing beyond  death  is  fabulous  ? — that  it  is  of  heathen  origin  1  and 
that  it  has  no  true  and  proper  connexion  with  a  religion  revealed 
from  heaven  1 

It  is  probable  that  the  idea  of  a  hell  was  first  taken  from  those 
gloomy  dungeons,  which  earthly  tyrants  have,  in  all  ages  and 
countries,  employed  as  the  instruments  of  their  ambition  or  re- 
venge ;  hence,  with  the  idea  of  hell  are  usually  associated  the 
dismal  and  heart-sickening  imagery  belonging  to  such  places  as 
the  Bastile  of  France,  the  Black-hole  of  Calcutta,  and  the  Inqui- 
sition of  Spain  or  Goa;  dungeons,  chains,  racks,  torturing  imple- 
ments, darkness,  feverish  thirst,  groans,  shrieks,  blasphemies, 
burning,  suffocation,  desperation,  despair,  all  these  start  up  in  con- 
nection with  that  direful  word,  which  has  given  to  priests  their 
magic  power  over  the  souls  of  men,  and  which  has  caused  man  to 
start  back  with  horror  from  the  contemplation  of  that  futurity  which 
has  been  opened  to  him  in  the  gospel  as  an  object  of  joyful  hope. 

In  this  branch  of  our  general  subject  it  is  a  high  satisfaction  to 
us,  that  we  have  the  judgments  of  all,  of  all  sects,  both  Jew  and 
christian,  in  perfect  coincidence  relative  to  the  radical  and  primary 
meaning  of  Gehenna ;  all  agree  that  it  comes  from  the  two  He- 
brew words  Gia  and  Hinnom^  literally  signifying  the  valley  of 
Hinnom.  On  this  point  there  is  no  dispute.  It  is  assumed, 
indeed,  that  it  came  by  accommodation  to  be  applied  to  a  hell 
beyond  this  life  ;  but  it  surely  ought  not  to  be  expected  that  an 
assumption  of  such  magnitude  will  be  admitted  without  the  most 
substantial  evidence ;  and  none  such,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  has 
ever  been  produced,  nor  do  I  believe  it  can  be. 

Critics  are  also  agreed,  as  before  observed,  relative  to  s/teoZ  and 
hades,  and  even  our  English  hell  These  things  must  be  kept  in 
mind  by  the  reader,  for  they  are  of  great  moment  in  their  bearing 
upon  the  settlement  of  the  great  question  before  us,  relative  to 
the  truth  or  falsity  of  universalism. 


HELL  PUNISHMENT  EXAMINED.  279 

The  celebrated  Dr.  John  Mason  Good,  in  his  lecture  on  the 
nature  and  duration  of  the  soul,  affirms,  respecting  the  popular 
tradition,  as  early  as  the  time  of  Isaiah,  (and  Homer,  with  whom 
he  believes  him  to  have  been  contemporary,)  that  "  it  taught  that 
the  disembodied  spirit  becomes  a  ghost  as  soon  as  it  is  separated 
from  the  material  frame  ;  a  thin,  misty,  aerial  form,  somewhat 
larger  than  life ;  with  a  feeble  voice,  shadowy  limbs,  knowledge 
superior  to  what  was  possessed  while  in  the  flesh  ;  capable,  under 
particular  circumstances,  of  rendering  itself  visible,  and  retaining  so 
much  of  its  former  features,  as  to  be  recognised  in  its  apparition ; 
in  a  few  instances  wandering  about  for  a  time  after  death,  but  for 
the  most  part  conveyed  to  a  common  receptacle  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  earth,  denominated  sheol,  hades,  hell,  or  the  world 
of  spirits. 

"  Such  was  the  general  belief  of  the  multitude,  in  almost  all 
countries,  from  a  very  early  period  of  time,  with  the  difference, 
that  the  hades  of  various  nations  was  supposed  to  exist  in  some 
remote  place  on  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  that  of  others  in  the 
clouds." 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  this  dim  and  misty  outline  of  the 
realm  of  ghosts  was  from  age  to  age  amplified  upon,  until  it  be- 
came the  abode  of  the  damned,  modified  amongst  different  nations 
according  to  the  diversified  policy  of  their  priests,  or  fancy  of 
their  poets  :  by  some  it  has  been  located  in  the  interior  of  the 
earth ;  by  some  on  its  surface  in  some  remote  district ;  by  some 
in  the  clouds,  in  the  moon,  in  a  comet,  or  one  of  the  planets. 
With  some  it  has  been  held  a  hell  of  fire ;  with  others  a  hell  of 
ice  ;  with  others,  of  alternate  burning  and  freezing ;  with  others,  of 
darkness  and  dreary  wandering  amid  every  frightful  circumstance, 
of  hunger  and  thirst,  etc.  The  latest  refinement  upon  it  amongst 
christians  is,  that  it  has  no  outward  or  material  existence,  but  is 
merely  a  slate  of  moral  suffering,  remorse,  unavailing  anguish, 
and  despair. 

If  hell  be  a  located place^  God  made  it.  He  made  it  with  a  per- 
fect knowledge  of  the  end  to  which  it  should  answer,  and  he  of 
course  adapted  it  to  that  end.  He  also  created  those  whose  doom 
it  shall  be  to  groan  in  its  depths  forever ;  and  he  of  course  knew 
that  such  should  be  the  issue  of  their  being.  And  he  is  infinitely 
benfivolent,  nevertheless !    He  "  is  good  to  all,  and  his  tender 


280  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

mercies  are  over  all  his  works  ! !"  Let  those  believe  these  absur- 
dities who  can.  I  can  not,  if  the  penalty  be  a  hundred  fold  dam- 
nation ! ! ! 

Thanks  be  to  God  !  I  lie  under  no  such  obligation  !  The  light 
of  his  word  shines  sufficiently  bright  on  the  pathway  of  my  inqui- 
ries on  these  subjects,  to  satisfy  my  understanding  and  my  hopes. 
It  informs  me,  that  "  in  the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,"  but  no  mention  is  made  of  his  having  created  a  HELL  ! ! 
So,  also,  at  the  conclusion,  it  speaks  of  "  a  new  heaven,  and  a 
new  earth,"  but  nothing  whatever  of  a  NEW  HELL  !  !  Thus, 
neither  firstly,  nor  lastly,  nor  intermediately,  do  the  scriptures  re- 
cognise such  a  hell,  as  at  this  day  is  proving,  to  a  frightful  extent, 
a  source  of  terror,  and  madness,  and  suicide. 

It  is  sincerely  hoped  that  the  reader  will  "  search  the  scrip- 
tures," in  order  to  satisfy  himself  on  this  point.  He  will  receive 
but  little  edification  from  the  perusal  of  polemical  squabbles  con- 
cerning it.  He  must  "  to  the  law,  and  to  the  testimony  ;"  and 
oh  !  let  him  take  heed,  that  nothing  short  of  these  high  authori- 
ties determine  him  in  a  belief,  so  dreadful  in  its  bearings  on  his 
own  happiness,  and  so  pernicious  in  its  influence  on  his  views  of 
the  Divine  character. 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION. 

DOES  ABSOLUTE    FOREKNOWLEDGE    NECESSARILY  IMPLY  ABSO- 
LUTE FOREORDINATION  ? 

So  momentous  are  the  consequences  involved  in  this  question, 
that  very  many  have  been  deterred  from  adventuring  fairly  and 
boldly  into  a  discussion  of  it;  for  if,  on  the  one  hand,  it  be  settled 
in  the  affirmative,  it  seems  clearly  to  follow  that  God  is  the  author 
of  sin-— that  man  is  without  moral  freedom— that  he  therefore  is 
not  responsible  for  his  actions — and,  in  that  case,  promises,  threat- 
enings,  rewards,  punishments,  appeals  to  his  interests,  his  fears, 
his  sense  of  propriety,  &c.,  are  unmeaning  mockeries.    It  seema 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  281 

to  follow,  moreover,  that  God  has  incorporated  a  lie  in  man's 
moral  constitution  ;  for  man  has  an  ineradicable  persuasion  that  he 
is  free — that  not  his  actions  only,  but  his  volitions  also,  are  en- 
tirely subject  to  his  own  control ;  which,  however,  is  not  the  case, 
if  all  events  are  the  result  of  divine  foreordination.  Such  are  the 
difficulties  on  the  one  side.  Milton  has  alluded  to  them  with 
much  beauty  and  force  in  his  Paradise  Lost,  as  follows : 

"  Ingrate,  he  had  of  me 
All  he  could  have  ;  I  made  him  just  and  right, 
Sufficient  to  have  stood,  though  free  to  fall. 
Such  I  created  all  th'  ethereal  powers 
And  spirits,  both  them  who  stood  and  them  who  fail'd ; 
Freely  they  stood  who  stood,  and  fell  who  fell. 
Not  free,  what  proof  could  they  have  given  sincere 
Of  true  allegiance,  constant  faith  or  love, 
Where  only  what  they  needs  must  do  appeared, 
Not  what  they  would  ]  what  praise  could  they  receive  1 
What  pleasure  I  from  such  obedience  paid. 
When  will  and  reason  (reason  also  is  choice) 
Useless  and  vain,  of  freedom  both  despoil'd, 
Made  passive  both,  had  served  necessity, 
Not  mel" 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  question  at  the  head  of  this  article  be 
settled  in  the  negative,  it  would  seem  to  follow  that,  in  a  great 
measure,  things  are  left  to  the  determination  of  chance — that 
Jehovah  himself  may  be  disappointed  in  the  final  issue  of  affairs — 
that  he  is  indifferent  to  the  eternal  interests  of  his  creatures,  or  he 
would  not  have  suspended  them  upon  uncertain  contingencies — 
that  in  innumerable  instances  the  will  of  man  will  prevail  against 
the  divine  will — that,  in  fact,  God  can  have  had  no  definite  pur- 
pose in  creating,  save  such  as  he  adopted  on  the  foresight  of  what 
man  would  do;  and  thus,  the  doings  of  the  Infinite  are  shaped 
and  controlled  by  the  ever-changing  vagaries  of  finite  beings ;  and, 
moreover,  the  deity  is,  in  truth,  as  directly  accountable  for  all  the 
events  which  take  place  upon  the  ground  of  absolute  foreknow- 
ledge, as  upon  that  of  absolute  foredetermination. 

These  difficulties  on  both  sides  have  induced  some  to  seek  a 
middle  position ;  none,  however,  have  yet  succeeded  in  the 
search — there  is  no  sailing  betwixt  Scylla  and  Charybdis  here. 
Dr.  Clarke  (as  stated  in  another  part  of  this  work)  assumes,  that 
God  can  be  ignorant,  if  he  tries,  of  such  events  as  he  chooses  not 
to  know.   A  most  gross  solecism,  this ;  it  implies  that  the  Infinite 

Vol.  I.— y  2 


282  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Being,  if  he  please,  can  dispense  with  his  attribute  of  omniscience! 
And  if  with  one  attribute,  why  not  with  all,  and  so  cease  to  be 
God  1  John  Wesley,  and  others  after  him,  have  sought  to  evade 
the  question  by  perplexing  it.  "  With  the  Omniscient  Being," 
say  they,  "  there  is  no  before,  no  after — all  is  present — the  past 
and  the  future  are  one  eternal  now.'*''  This  is  a  mere  sophism, 
however ;  for,  after  all,  the  knowledge  which  precedes  the  events 
to  which  it  relates  is /ore-knowledge;  that  which  is  subsequent  to 
them  is  a/"/er-knowledge ;  all  the  divine  knowledge  of  events  is 
necessarily  antecedent  to  them,  and  we  therefore  say,  that  he 
/ore-knows  all  things  ;  in  so  saying  we  conform  to  the  established 
usages  of  human  speech,  and  say  what  none  directly  question. 
Why,  then,  do  they  seek  to  mystify  the  subject,  save  that  it  be 
for  the  sake  of  a  subterfuge  from  the  force  of  truth  1 

Were  I  an  Arminian,  I  would  not  hesitate  to  take  the  ground, 
that  God  does  not,  and  can  not,  foresee  future  events;  for  if  they 
are  contingent,  if  they  are  shaped  by  the  accidental  determinations 
of  the  human  will,  then  are  there  no  links  connecting  them  with 
the  past — no  clue  reaching  back  to  the  origin  of  things,  by  which 
their  succession  can  be  traced ;  and  even  to  Omniscience  itself, 
(it  seems  to  me,)  it  were  impossible  to  foresee  the  future,  except 
by  a  concatenated  series  of  causes  and  effects  it  were  connected 
with  the  past.  There  are  things  which,  in  their  own  nature,  are 
impossible ;  error,  for  instance,  cannot  be  made  superior  to  truth, 
nor  vice  to  virtue ;  nor  can  a  part  be  made  to  equal  the  whole, 
nor  the  whole  to  exceed  the  sum  of  all  its  parts ;  and,  to  my  think- 
ing, it  is  equally  impossible  to  see  an  end  from  a  beginning  with 
which  it  has  no  necessary  connexion. 

Maugre,  then,  all  the  subtle  sophistry  to  the  contrary,  we  can- 
not avoid  the  conclusion,  that  absolute  foreknowledge  does  imply 
absolute  foreordination  ;  just  as  certainly  as  there  is  a  connexion 
between  causes  and  their  immediate  effects,  so  are  these  effects 
connected  with  consequences  more  remote  ,•  and,  like  the  paths  in 
a  labyrinth,  which,  however  mazy  and  numerous,  are  found,  when 
retraced,  to  issue  in  the  single  path  with  which  they  begun  :  so 
the  millions  of  events  which  form  the  intricate  web  of  human 
life,  are  seen  by  the  eye  of  Omniscience  to  be  but  natural  ramifi- 
cations from  causes  which  originated  in  his  own  appointment. 
Take  different  ground,  if  you  will,  reader,  but  where  will  you 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDIKATION.  283 

find  it  to  end  ?  In  a  metaphysical  morass,  where  not  an  inch  of 
firm  footing  will  be  found. 

For  example,  an  individual  commits  a  wicked  act;  this  had  a 
cause ;  whether  a  reasonable  cause  or  not,  or  whether  he  could 
have  acted  otherwise  or  not,  is  not  now  the  question ;  it  had  a 
cause.  What  was  it  1  Say,  if  you  please,  "  his  depraved  nature." 
Very  well,  and  had  not  his  depraved  nature  also  a  causel  "  Yes," 
say  you,  "it  was  transmitted  to  him  from  our  first  parents,  and 
was  an  effect  of  their  first  oflTence."  Well,  and  had  not  the  first 
offence  a  cause  too  1  "  Oh  yes,"  you  reply,  "  they  listened,  and 
yielded  to  the  wiles  of  the  serpent."  And  pray  what  was  the 
cause  of  their  so  listening  and  yielding]  Here  you  are,  reader,  in 
the  swamp  of  which  I  forewarned  you,  from  which,  however  lus- 
tily you  may  flounder,  you  cannot  extricate  yourself.  Neverthe- 
less, (as  you  are  a  free  agent)  you  may  try.  Say,  then,  that  "  our 
first  parents  could  have  resisted  the  temptation  if  they  had 
chosen."  But  from  what  cause  came  it  that  they  did  not  choose  1 
"  Well,"  say  you,  "  I  can  only  answer,  that  their  appetite  for  the 
forbidden  fruit  was  so  strong,  as  to  overcome  their  resisting 
powers."  One  question  more,  then,  if  you  please.  Who  created 
their  appetite,  and  made  it  so  strong  as  to  overcome  their  resisting 
powers  1  This  will  admit  of  but  one  answer ;  and  since,  on  the 
boundless  map  of  the  future,  the  Omniscient  eye  could  clearly 
trace  from  these  primary  causes,  all  the  multiform  results  which 
should  ramify  to  eternity,  is  it  unreasonable  or  impious  to  say, 
that  he  ordained  those  results. 

"  All  very  good  !"  exclaims  the  reader ;  "  and  so,  as  sin  is  of 
God's  appointment,  I  shall  go  on  and  commit  as  much  of  it  as 
possible — I  shall  thereby  be  merely  fulfilling  the  divine  purposes." 

Reader  !  reflect  a  moment ! Now  tell  me  if  there  is  not  more  of 

rashness  than  of  reason  in  what  you  say.  You  "  will  be  merely 
fulfilling  the  divine  purposes  !"  How  know  you  what  the  divine 
purposes  respecting  you  are?  If  he  has  ordained  that  some  shall 
come  to  their  death  by  poisoning,  will  you  thence  conclude  that 
such  is  to  be  your  case,  and  so  swallow  a  fatal  drug  1  or  because 
some  are  to  die  by  burning,  will  you  conceive  it  your  duty  to 
throw  yourself  into  the  fire  1  No,  no,  you  will  act  more  prudently 
in  this  case — you  will  hope  that  an  easier  fate  awaits  you,  and  you 
will  patiently  abide  it.    Very  well ;  hope  also  that  to  you  is  al- 


284  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

lotted  a  life  of  virtue  and  happiness :  it  is  at  least  both  your  duty 
and  interest  to  act  on  this  persuasion,  and  nothing  can  be  lost  by 
endeavors  toward  such  a  life. 

In  sooth,  this  is  one  of  that  knotty  class  of  questions,  on  which 
it  is  much  easier  to  raise  difficulties  than  to  obviate  them.  I  greatly 
mistake  the  entire  scope  of  the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  if  Paul 
himself  had  not  some  experience  to  this  effect ;  he  seems  to  have 
clearly  taken  the  ground,  that  God  not  only  foresees,  but  also  fore- 
appoints  all  events  :  he  then  saw  it  to  follow,  that  sin  itself  must 
be  included  amongst  the  all  things  so  appointed ;  and,  therefore, 
that  sin  must,  in  some  sense,  be  according  to  the  divine  will — if  not 
CLS  an  ultimate  end,  (as  it  certainly  is  not,)  yet  as  an  intermediate 
means ;  and  he  anticipates  an  objection  arising  on  this  very  ground. 
"  Thou  wilt  say  then  unto  me,  why  doth  he  yet  find  fault  1  for  who 
hath  resisted  his  wilH"  (Rom.  ix.  19.)  To  meet  such  cavils  was 
no  difficult  matter  with  one  of  the  apostle's  dexterity  as  a  rea- 
soner;  he  could  show  how  Jehovah  can  effect  good  results  by 
means  which  we  should  think  the  least  likely  to  yield  them.  It 
is  true,  that  of  even  this  disposition  of  the  subject,  advantage 
would  be  taken  by  the  captious  disputant,  "  Why,"  he  would 
ask,  "  since  God  effects,  by  the  agency  of  actions  which  we  term 
sinful,  such  signally  glorious  results,  may  not  man  plead  the  like 
excuse  for  his  wicked  actions,  pretending  that  he  meant  them  as 
means  to  a  good  end  ?"  Indeed,  Paul  and  his  fellow  apostles, 
were  actually  charged  with  teaching  the  very  principle  involved 
in  this  question — "  Let  us  do  evil  that  good  may  come."  (Rom. 
iii.  8.)  And  the  same  has  been  reiterated  against  the  same  doc- 
trine by  superficial  thinkers  in  every  age,  for  little  do  such  super- 
ficial objectors  consider,  that  it  is  not  their  province  to  foretell  how 
each  particalar  action  shall  come  out ;  their  experience  ought  to 
instruct  them  that  they  are  often  disappointed  in  the  result  of 
events  of  the  least  complex  character ;  those  from  which  they 
predict  the  best  issues  very  commonly  yield  (so  far  as  they  are 
concerned)  the  w^orst,  and  vice  versa.  Nevertheless,  unintimi- 
dated  by  the  cavils  and  perversions  to  which  this  truth  was  lia- 
ble from  men  of  superficial  or  perverse  minds,  the  apostle  pushes 
on  his  argument  with  great  vigor,  showing  that  the  divine  Being, 
in  carrying  forward  his  stupendous  schemes,  exercises  not  only 
a  general,  but  a  particular  direction  :  every  thing  is  taken  up  into 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  285 

his  plan,  and  made  a  means  of  pushing  it  forward  toward  the  ap- 
pointed consummation :  some  he  raises  up  to  eminence  in  the 
world,  some  he  casts  down  ;  some  he  enlightens,  some  he  aban- 
dons to  blindness  ;  some  he  calls  to  the  enjoyment  of  high  reli- 
gious privileges,  and  some  he  gives  over  to  hardness  of  heart  and 
reprobacy  of  mind.  "  Hath  not  the  potter  power  over  the  clay, 
of  the  same  lump  to  make  one  vessel  unto  honour,  and  another 
unto  dishonour."  (Rom.  ix.  21.)  And  most  gloriously  does  this 
whole  argument  end.  Love  is  shown  to  be  the  foundation  of  the 
whole  scheme  of  divine  government ;  in  all  of  its  infinitely 
diversified  manifestations,  grace  is  interwoven  throughout  the 
texture  :  grace  indeed  is  the  warp  and  the  woof;  of  God  are  all 
things  ;  through  God  are  all  things  ;  to  God  are  all  things.  Such 
(in  Rom.  xi.)  is  the  apostle's  final  and  satisfactory  disposition  of 
this  perplexing  and  much  mooted  question. 

"  Grace  all  the  work  shall  crown 

Through  everlasting  days, 
It  lays  in  heaven  the  topmost  stone, 

And  well  deserves  the  praise." 

Betwixt  Calvinism  and  Arminianism  (so  far  as  respects  their 
connection  with  this  question)  there  is  not  a  hair's  breadth  of  ra- 
tional difference ;  the  former  indeed  seems  to  be  the  more  harsh  of 
the  two,  but  the  more  consistent  in  itself,  in  reality,  however,  they 
are  the  same  ;  Calvinism  is  Arminianism,  asserted  in  honest  di- 
rectness of  terms ;  Arminianism  is  Calvinism,  expressed  by  cir- 
cumlocution. In  verbal  modification,  however,  these  isms  differ. 
Calvinists  acknowledge  the  conclusion,  that  God  has  fore-ap- 
pointed all  things,  to  be  inevitable  from  the  fact  that  he  foreknew 
all  things  ;  Arminians  affect  to  think  differently,  and  affirm,  that 
Jehovah  may  design  an  event  to  be,  when  he  knows  it  never  will 
be  ;  and  not  to  be,  at  the  same  time  that  he  knows  it  certainly 
will !  hence,  although  he  created  us  with  the  certain  knowledge, 
that  with  regard  to  a  large  majority,  the  act  would  prove  infinitely 
disastrous,  yet  he  is  not  answerable  for  the  result,  because  he 
meant  it  should  happen  otherwise  !  Most  sage  and  consistent 
Arminianism  ! 

Doctor  Drugg  had  been  heard  to  say,  that  of  the  two  medicines 
he  had  left  in  his  patient's  room — the  one  sanative,  and  the  other 
fatal  in  its  qualities — he  knew  that  the  sick  man  would  choose  the 


286  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

latter,  and  that  his  death  would  be  the  consequence.  When  put 
upon  his  trial  for  murder,  on  this  ground,  the  Doctor  plead  as  fol- 
lows :  J'  May  it  please  the  honorable  court,  there  is  as  wide  a  dif- 
ference between  the  foreknowing,  and  the  foredetermining  of  a 
thing,  as  between  the  occipital  and  metatarsal  extremities  of  the 
human  subject,  and  therefore,  though  I  knew  my  poor  patient  would 
come  to  his  death  by  means  of  the  nostrums  left  in  his  chamber, 
yet  I  beg  your  honors  to  believe  that  such  was  not  my  intention — 
I  positively  designed  his  cure."  Unfortunately  for  Doctor  Drugg, 
the  court  determined  ihe  case  on  common-sense  principles,  rather 
than  on  those  of  Arminianism ;  they  could  not  comprehend  how 
he  could  possibly  purpose  to  cure  his  patient  by  means  which  he 
positively  knew  would  kill  him  !  Stupid  fellows!  had  they  but 
been  Arminians,  they  could  have  found  a  parallel  for  the  case  in 
the  conduct  which  their  creed  ascribes  to  the  deity,  and  thus  the 
poor  Doctor  would  have  been  longer  spared  to  the  cause  of  science. 
"  So  !  then,"  exclaims  the  Arminian  objector,  "  the  author  re- 
ally seems  bent  on  proving,  that  as  Jehovah  foreknew  of  the  ex- 
istence of  sin,  he  must  also  have  designed  it !"  Yes,  such  is  really 
my  purpose,  and  this  I  mean  to  do  upon  your  own  admitted  prin- 
ciples ;  you  have  been  accustomed  to  casting  the  supposed 
odium  of  this  conclusion  upon  Calvinism,  and  I  am  now  showing 
that  it  equally  pertains  to  your  own  system.  Calvinism,  it  is 
true,  comes  to  it  by  a  direct  path,  whilst  you,  more  cautious,  ap- 
proach it  by  a  circuit.  For  example,  you  hold  that  God  made 
certain  angels,  with  the  ability  to  become  devils  if  they  chose ; 
he  knew  they  would  so  choose ;  he  knew  that  he  should  banish 
them  to  hell ;  he  knew  that  if  he  should  allow  them  they  would 
escape  from  hell  to  this  earth,  and  tempt  from  their  allegiance  to 
himself  the  race  of  beings  called  man  :  he  did  so  allow  them ; 
he  knew  that  for  as  long  as  time  should  last,  age  after  age  should 
roll  its  successive  millions  of  this  race  into  the  infernal  abyss ;  he 
knew  when  he  created  hell  that  such  should  be  its  uses  ;  and  when 
he  created  these  ill-fated  beings,  he  knew  that  they  were  to  peo- 
ple its  fiery  caverns — all  these  things  were  as  plain  before  his 
eyes  as  though  they  were  then  present  facts ;  he  could  have  pre- 
vented them  if  he  pleased,  but  did  not  please  !  It  unanswerably 
follows,  then,  that  he  designed  them.  Calvinism  admits  this  at 
once.     Where  is  the  difference,  then  1    Just  here ;    your  system 


FOREKNOWLEDGE   AND  FOREORDINATION.  287 

alters  neither  the  length  nor  the  direction  of  the  chain  of  fate ;  it 
but  makes  it  to  consist  of  a  greater  number  of  links. 

Having,  then,  as  I  think,  established  the  conclusion,  that  absolute 
foreknowledge  implies  absolute  foreordination,  1  proceed  to  notice 
the  objections  which  seem  to  lie  against  it.  I  have  already  consi- 
dered the  most  formidable  of  these,  viz.,  that  it  makes  God  the 
author  of  sin  ;  and  I  now  ask  how,  on  any  ground,  is  this  to  be 
avoided  1  I  assert,  moreover,  that  it  is  plainly  scriptural.  Shall  we 
affect  to  be  more  scrupulous  in  this  respect  than  were  the  inspired 
penmen  ?  We  are  told  in  sacred  story,  that  God  put  certain  dreams 
into  the  mind  of  Joseph,  the  interpretation  of  which  was,  that  he 
should  come  to  be  a  man  of  so  great  dignity  that  his  father  and 
brethren  should  be  brought  to  reverence  him.  What  means  did 
Jehovah  employ  to  bring  this  end  about  1  Can  it  be  denied,  that 
among  those  means  were  several  guilty  transactions  \  Such,  for 
instance,  were  the  envy  of  the  brethren,  their  selling  him  for 
a  slave,  and  the  incontinence  of  Potiphar's  wife.  Will  any  pre- 
tend that  God  did  not  appoint  these  events  ?  If  he  did  not,  then 
he  provided  other  means  for  accomplishing  the  end,  or  no  means  at 
all  i  if  other  means,  they  were  not  brought  into  use  !  and  God 
knew  they  would  not  when  he  appointed  them  !  If  he  provided 
no  means  at  all,  what  must  we  think  of  his  wisdom,  in  appointing 
ends,  without  the  requisite  means  for  bringing  them  about  ]  Of 
but  one  method  of  evasion  know  I  from  the  force  of  this  case. 
The  Arminian  may  say,  that  in  the  dreams  of  Joseph,  God  only 
intimated  what  he  foresaw  would  come — not  what  he  designed 
should  come  ;  and  that  God  merely  overruled  these  sinful  transac- 
tions'for  good,  but  did  not  appoint  them  as  a  means  to  that  good. 
Ah!  this  plea  will  not  do.  Let  us  see  of  what  the  good  consisted  : 
1st,  the  deliverance  of  the  chosen  people  from  the  famine  :  2nd, 
nor  from  the  famine  of  Canaan  merely,  but  also  from  its  idola- 
tries, to  which,  as  they  increased,  they  would  have  been  much 
exposed :  3rd,  their  establishment  by  themselves  in  Goshen,  (a 
rich  pasturage  country,)  where  they  multiplied  to  a  numerous  na- 
tion :  4th,  the  raising  from  them  a  line  of  prophets,  reaching  down 
in  unbroken  succession  to  the  rise  of  the  prophet  of  prophets, 
Christ  Messiah,  through  whom  a  more  glorious  kingdom  should 
be  established,  as  wide  in  its  sway  as  the  extension  of  being,  and 
as  lasting  as  the  age  of  the  Most  High.    And  will  you  say,  my 


288  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

dear  reader,  that  these  stupendous  occurrences  were  not  previ- 
ously marked  out  by  Jehovah,  and  every  link  in  the  well-arranged 
series  of  means  by  which  they  were  brought  about,  appointed  and 
adjusted  by  him  1  Was  the  effecting  of  these  great  ends  left  to 
the  agency  of  accident  ■?  So  at  least,  thought  not  Joseph;  for  when, 
after  his  father's  death,  his  brethren  came  to  him  to  implore  his 
forgiveness  for  their  evil  conduct  toward  him,  he  said  unto  them, 
"  Fear  not;  for  am  I  in  the  place  of  God  1  But  as  for  you,  ye 
thought  evil  against  me,  but  God  meant  it  unto  good,  to  bring 
to  pass,  as  it  is  this  day,  to  save  much  people  alive."  (Gen. 
1.  19,  20.)  Thus  is  God  directly  recognised  by  Joseph  as  the 
prime  agent  in  this  business;  but  his  was  a  different  motive 
from  their's,  who  were  the  subordinate  agents  or  instruments. 
Take  another  example.  Jehovah  appointed  his  Son  to  die  for 
the  world's  redemption  ;  he  meant,  of  course,  that  this  important 
event  should  be  effected  in  a  certain  definite  way.  What  was  that 
way?  The  Savior  was  to  be  denied  by  one  of  his  disciples  ;  be- 
trayed by  another;  forsaken  by  all ;  rejected  by  his  own  nation; 
scourged,  and  in  death  confounded  with  malefactors.  All  these 
things  are  said  by  Jesus  himself  to  have  been  previously  marked 
out  by  the  purposes  of  heaven  ;  and  the  inspired  recorders  of  these 
transactions  make  no  scruple  of  referring  them  to  the  same  source. 
(Matt,  xxvii.  35.  John  xii.  38  ;  xv.  25  ;  xvii.  12;  xviii.  32;  xix. 
24,  36.)  After  Christ's  death,  the  apostles  set  forth  the  same  fact 
in  their  preaching.  "  Him,  being  delivered  by  the  determinate 
counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God,  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked 
hands  have  crucified  and  slain."  (Acts  ii.  23.)  The  following  is  to 
the  same  effect.  "  And  now,  brethren,  I  wot  that  through  ignorance 
ye  did  it,  as  did  also  your  rulers.  But  those  things,  which  God  be- 
fore had  showed  by  the  mouth  of  all  his  prophets,that  Christ  should 
suffer,  he  hath  so  fulfilled."  (Acts  iii.  17,  18.)  Even  in  solemn 
prayer  together  they  recognise  these  events  as  the  result  of  the  di- 
vine purpose.  "  For  of  a  truth,  against  thy  holy  child  Jesus, 
whom  thou  hast  anointed,  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with 
the  Gentiles,  and  the  people  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together,  for 
to  do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and  thy  counsel  determined  before  to 
be  done."  (Acts  iv.  27,  28.)  I  cannot  conceive  how  any  rational 
man  can  dream,  that  God,  having  for  ends  of  unspeakable  glory 
and  benevolence  appointed  his  Son's  death,  took  no  express  mea- 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  289 

sures  for  the  accomplishment  of  that  event,  but  left  it  to  be  brought 
about  by  mere  chance  !  Yet  have  I  heard  even  preachers  prate  to 
that  effect  from  the  pulpit !  I  have  even  heard  them  affirm  that  the 
death  of  Christ  was  no  necessary  part  of  the  divine  plan  !  Let 
such  wise  heads  turn  to  Heb.  ix.  8.  Col.  i.  19,  20,  and  compare 
notes  with  the  great  apostle  upon  this  point. 

Equally  unphilosophical  as  unscriptural  is  the  denial,  that  all 
things,  in  the  broadest  acceptation  of  the  phrase,  have  their  origin 
in  the  unchangeable  designs  of  heaven  ;  it  is,  in  effect,  to  dethrone 
the  deity,  and  to  put  the  sceptre  of  the  universe  into  the  hands  of 
finite  creatures,  whose  wills  may  shape  its  occurrences  to  suit 
themselves.  The  pious  worthies  in  bible  times  were  belter  philo- 
sophers. Job  ascribed  his  calamities  directl)'-  to  Jehovah.  "The 
Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away.''''  (Job  i.  21.)  "  Shall 
we  receive  good  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  shall  we  not  receive 
cm7?"  (Job  ii.  10.)  Yet  in  bringing  these  evils  to  pass,  God 
employed  the  agency  of  Sabine  and  Chaldean  freebooters,  as  well 
as  winds,  and  fire,  and  disease.  (These  agencies  are,  in  the  bible, 
personified  under  the  name  of  Satan  ;)  the  scheme,  you  perceive, 
involved  the  sins  of  robbery  and  murder  !  Jeremiah  accounts  God 
the  author  of  the  public  calamities  which  he  bewails  in  his  La- 
mentations. "  The  Lord  hath  cast  off  his  altar ;  he  hath  abhorred 
his  sanctuary :  he  hath  given  up  into  the  hand  of  the  enemy  the 
walls  of  her  palaces ;  they  have  made  a  noise  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  as  in  the  day  of  a  solemn  feast.  The  Lord  hath  purposed 
to  destroy  the  wall  of  the  daughter  of  Zion  :  he  hath  stretched 
out  a  line,  he  hath  not  withdrawn  his  hand  from  destroying : 
therefore  he  made  the  rampart  and  the  wall  to  lament;  they  lan- 
guished together.  Her  gates  are  sunk  into  the  ground  ;  he  hath 
destroyed  and  broken  her  bars :  her  king  and  her  princes  are 
among  the  Gentiles  :  the  law  is  no  more  ;  her  prophets  also  find  no 
vision  from  the  Lord."  (Lam.  ii.  7 — 9.)  The  same  prophet  asks, 
"  Who  is  he  that  saith,  and  it  cometh  to  pass,  when  the  Lord 
cnmmandeth  it  not  ■?"  (Ibid.  iii.  37.)  Now  in  this  visitation  upon 
Jerusalem,  Jehovah  employed  the  ambition,  the  lust  of  fame  and 
spoil,  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon  ;  the  earthly  mon- 
arch's purposes  were  those  which  his  own  lusts  suggested — God's 
were  those  of  retribution  upon  a  sinful  people.  Let  me  here  ask — 
do  we  not  account  Napoleon  to  have  been  a  scourge  of  Providence 

Vol.  I^^Z  No.  13. 


290  PUO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

to  the  despotic  and  corrupt  nations  of  Europe?  And  if  God  meanl 
that  our  nation  should  become  free  when  it  did,  was  not  his 
hand  concerned  in  the  oppressions,  exactions,  evil  counsels  in  the 
British  cabinet,  etc.,  which  directly  tended  to  bring  on  the  great 
event  ]  If  any  suppose  these  questions  to  be  impious,  I  beg  they 
will  peruse  2  Chron.  xviii.  18 — 22,  and  Exod.  x.  1,  2.  1  can- 
not think  that  signal  occurrences,  of  the  nature  here  alluded  to, 
take  place  accidentally  ,•  and  if  we  allow  that  they  take  place  pro' 
videntially ^  then  consistency  demands  the  admission  that,  in  ap- 
pointing the  ends,  providence  also  appoints  the  means  by  which 
those  ends  are  effected. 

"  But  this  reasoning  proves,"  you  will  say,  "  that  we  are  desti- 
tute of  moral  freedom  ;  whereas  this  is  contradicted  by  our  ex- 
perience, for  we  can  all  do  what  we  please,  within  the  compass 
of  our  ability."  Granted  ;  but  can  you  please  as  you  please  1  You 
are  pleased  with  beauty — can  you,  if  you  try,  be  equally  pleased 
with  deformity  1  You  are  pleased  with  musical  harmonies — can 
you,  by  trying,  be  equally  pleased  with  discords  1  You  are  pleased 
with  savoury  viands — can  you,  by  any  effort,  become  equally  so 
with  such  as  are  nauseous  ]  If  not,  then  where,  I  pray  you,  is  your 
boasted  freedom  of  choice  ]  Your  will  is  influenced  by  motives, 
and,  for  the  life  of  you,  you  cannot  yield  to  a  weaker  motive  in  one 
direction,  when  a  stronger  owe  is  acting  upon  you  in  another;  you 
cannot  prefer  pain  before  pleasure,  nor  sickness  before  health.  By 
an  error  in  judgment  you  may  indeed  mistake  the  weaker  for  the 
stronger  motive — every  sinner  does  so  when  he  prefers  a  present 
and  momentary  gratification,  such  as  vice  may  yield,  before  a  vir- 
tuous self-denial,  which  would  secure  to  him  a  purer  and  more 
permanent  enjoyment.  You  must  see,  reader,  that  the  notion  of 
free-will  is  a  chimera.  Is  it  because  you  choosey  that  you  love 
your  friends  better  than  your  enemies  1  or  your  own  children  bet- 
ter than  those  of  a  stranger  1  Suppose,  then,  that  you  try  to  choose 
otherwise — ha?  can  you  make  it  outi  Why,  thou  art  a  most 
puissant  free  agent,  indeed  ! 

There  is  infinite  skill  displayed  in  the  divine  plan  of  dealing 
with  man  ;  while  man  is  acting  to  please  himself,  and  is  under  the 
impression  that  he  directs  his  own  volitions  as  well  as  actions, 
God  is,  in  fact,  by  his  weak  and  purblind  intrumentality,  working 
lut  his  own  vast  purposes — making  even  his  impotent  wrath  to 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  291 

praise  him  ;  controlling,  over-ruling  to  finally  glorious  ends,  all 
his  infinitely  diversified  schemes  and  doings.  To  Nebuchadnez- 
zar, the  proud  monarch  of  Babylon,  was  afforded  an  experimental 
proof  of  this.  "  The  king  spake  and  said.  Is  not  this  great  Baby- 
lon, that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  might 
of  my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my  majesty  1  While  the  word 
was  in  the  king's  mouth,  there  fell  a  voice  from  heaven,  saying, 

0  king  Nebuchadnezzar,  to  thee  it  is  spoken ;  the  kingdom  is  de- 
parted from  thee :  and  they  shall  drive  thee  from  men,  and  thy 
dwelling  shall  be  with  the  beasts  of  the  field  :  they  shall  make 
thee  to  eat  grass  as  oxen,  and  seven  times  shall  pass  over  thee, 
until  thou  know  that  the  Most  High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men, 
and  giveth  it  to  whomsoever  he  will. — And  at  the  end  of  the  days 

1  Nebuchadnezzar  lifted  up  mine  eyes  unto  heaven,  and  mine  un- 
derstanding returned  unto  me,  and  I  blessed  the  Most  High,  and 
I  praised  and  honoured  him  that  livelh  forever,  whose  dominion 
is  an  everlasting  dominion,  and  his  kingdom  is  from  generation  to 
generation  :  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed  as 
nothing :  and  he  doeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  army  of  hea- 
ven, and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth :  and  none  can  stay 
his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  what  dost  thou  V  (Dan.  iv.  30 — 32,  34, 
35.)  When  Senecharib,  king  of  Assyria,  marched  back  his  army 
without  fulfilling  his  contemplated  invasion  of  Jerusalem,  he  sup- 
posed he  was  merely  fulfilling  his  own  sovereign  pleasure ;  but 
see  how  God  speaketh  in  regard  to  him.  "  Therefore  will  I  put 
my  hook  in  thy  nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will  turn 
thee  back  by  the  way  by  which  thou  camest."  (Isa.  xxxvii.  29.) 
Indeed,  whoever  wishes  to  maintain  a  firm  faith  in  the  doctrine  of 
free  agency,  would  do  well  to  avoid  a  study  of  the  scriptures,  for 
they  afford  it  small  countenance  indeed.  "  The  preparations  of  the 
heart  in  man,  and  the  answer  of  the  tongue,  is  from  the  Lord." 
(Prov.  xvi.  1.)  "There  are  many  devices  in  a  man's  heart; 
nevertheless  the  counsel  of  the  Lord,  that  shall  stand."  (Ib.xix. 
21.)  "  Man's  goings  are  of  the  Lord  ;  how  can  a  man  then  un- 
derstand his  own  way  ?"  (lb.  xx.  24.)  "  The  king's  heart  is  in 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,  as  the  rivers  of  water  :  he  turneth  it  whither- 
soever he  will."  (lb.  xxi.  1.)  "The  lot  is  cast  into  the  lap; 
but  the  whole  disposing  thereof  is  of  the  Lord,,"    (lb.  xvi.  33.) 


292  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Has  the  language  of  these  texts  any  meaning  1  And  is  it  of  any 
authority  in  this  question  1 

I  will  now  show  you,  sir  Arminian,  that  in  your  notion  of  free 
agency  you  are  inconsistent  with  yourself;  your  practice  is  in 
contradiction  with  your  theory.  Why,  if  our  hereafter  condition 
depend  on  our  volitions,  do  you  supplicate  the  deity  to  interfere 
therewith  T  Why  ask  him  to  convert  this  individual,  or  that,  if, 
after  all,  the  individual  must  convert  himself?  Why  should  we 
look  to  God  for  salvation,  when  the  matter  depends  on  ourselves  I 
And  what  meant  Paul  when  he  said,  himself  might  plant  and 
Apollos  water,  but  God  must  give  the  increase  1  You  try  to  make 
out,  I  know,  that  our  salvation  is  a  sort  of  partnership  concern  be- 
tween God  and  ourselves — we  must  do  a  part,  and  God  will  do 
the  rest.  But  then,  (as  you  confess,)  we  cannot  do  our  part  until 
God  does  his ;  and  there  are  millions  in  regard  to  whom  his 
part  is  not  done  at  all,  (or  if  at  all,  ineffectually,  which  is  the  same 
thing.)  You  therefore  are  inconsistent  when  you  connect  our  sal- 
vation with  our  supposed  free  agency,  because  by  your  own  ad- 
mission we  have  so  such  agency  !  You  do  not  admit  this  unequi- 
vocally, I  grant,  but  you  certainly  do  in  such  terms  as  clearly 
imply  it.  See  the  following  quotation  from  the  Methodist  disci- 
pline, (which  is  but  a  transcript  from  the  Episcopalian  book  of 
Common  Prayer,  and  expresses  the  doctrine  of  both  those  denomi- 
nations on  this  head.) 

"  Art.  viii. — Of  Free  Will. — The  condition  of  man  after  the  fall 
of  Adam  is  such,  that  he  cannot  turn  and  prepare  himself  by  his 
own  natural  strength  and  works  to  faith,  and  calling  upon  God  ; 
Wherefore  we  have  no  power  to  do  good  works,  pleasant  and  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  without  the  grace  of  God  by  Christ  preventing 
us,  that  we  may  have  a  good  will,  and  working  with  us,  when 
we  have  that  good  will." 

I  do  not  quote  your  written  creed  for  the  sake  of  refuting  it,  for 
I  believe  it  in  accordance  with  the  bible  and  with  fact:  I  quote  it 
to  show  your  inconsistency  with  it ;  for  most  gross  inconsistency 
it  is  to  say,  that  if  a  man  be  not  converted,  it  is  his  own  fault ; 
and  yet  he  can  do  nothing  toward  this  conversion  until  God  has 
begun  it,  nor  then,  unless  God  continue  it  also  when  it  is  begun ! 
If  the  language  of  your  creed  does  not  express  this,  it  expresses 
nothing  intelligible  ;   and  certes,  the  bible  expresses  it,  whether 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  293 

your  creed  does  or  not.  "  Being  confident  of  tliis  very  thing,  that 
he  which  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it  until  the 
day  of  Jesus  Christ."  (Philip,  i.  6.)  See  also  the  following,  and 
observe  attentively,  that  although  every  man  is  represented  as  be- 
ing in  some  degree  a  subject  of  divine  operations,  yet  are  these 
more  or  less  effectual  in  each  individual  according  as  God  wills, 
not  as  we  will :  *'  And  there  are  diversities  of  operations,  but  it  is 
the  same  God  which  worketh  all  in  all.  But  the  manifestation  of 
the  Spirit  is  given  to  every  man  to  profit  withal.  For  to  one  is 
given  by  the  Spirit  the  word  of  wisdom  ;  to  another  the  word  of 
knowledge  by  the  same  Spirit;  to  another  faith  by  the  same 
Spirit;  to  another  the  gifts  of  healing  by  the  same  Spirit;  to 
another  the  working  of  miracles  ;  to  another  prophecy  ;  to  another 
discerning  of  spirits  ;  to  another  divers  kinds  of  tongues  ;  to  ano- 
ther the  interpretation  of  tongues  :  but  all  these  worketh  that  one 
and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  he 
will."  (1  Cor.  xii.  6 — 11.)  It  will  be  seen  that  even  faith  is 
among  these  divine  gifts ;  and  it  is  certain  that  we  cannot  exer- 
cise a  power  which  we  do  not  possess,  and  we  cannot  possess  it 
except  God  give  it ;  and  he  gives  it  as  he  wills,  not  as  we  will. 
Shall  we  then  be  damned  because  he  has  not  in  our  case  willed  to 
bestow  it  1  Extremely  reasonable,  this  !  "  But  he  will  give  it  if 
we  ask  for  it,"  say  you.  Indeed  !  But  suppose  we  do  not  ask  in 
faith,  shall  we  get  it  for  the  asking  in  that  case  ]  Most  clearly 
not,  if  the  bible  is  any  authority.  (James  i.  6,  7.)  So  then,  my 
friend  Arminian,  your  position  amounts  to  this  :  "  we  cannot 
have  faith  without  asking  for  it ;  and  we  cannot  ask  for  it  without 
first  possessing  it ;  and  except  we  do  possess  it,  we  shall  be 
damned."     This  is  taking  us  to  hell  in  a  circle  ! 

"  But  why,"  you  will  ask,  "  our  salvation  not  resulting  from  a 
free  exercise  of  our  own  wills,  are  we  called  on  in  the  scriptures, 
and  from  the  pulpit,  to  be  active  in  the  business,  when,  according 
to  your  reasoning,  we  are  hut  passive  after  all  1  I  admit  that  there 
is  seeming  weight  in  this  objection  ;  it  is  easily  answered,  how- 
ever. The  government  which  God  exercises  over  us  is  not  direct 
and  compulsory,  but  morale  it  consists  in  his  employing  induce- 
ments, as  exhortations,  promises,  rewards,  etc.,  for  the  purpose  of 
influencing  our  wills  ,-  and  so  entirely  is  our  free  consent  engaged 
in  the  performance  of  the  parts  assigned  us,  that  we  are  little 

Vol.  I— z  2 


294  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

aware  of  the  absolute  dominion  which  God  is  exercising  overns; 
we  are  aware,  indeed,  that  motives  govern  us,  but  we  seldom  in- 
quire, who  governs  motives  ]  Consistently  with  the  notion  of 
man's  free  agency,  it  is  difficult,  indeed  impossible,  to  understand 
the  thousand  promises  with  which  the  scriptures  abound,  of  what 
God  will  do  in,  and  for,  the  parties  to  whom  those  promises  re- 
late ;  for  there  is  necessarily  implied  therein  an  interference  with 
the  freedom  of  the  will.  See  the  following  as  a  sample :  "  For 
in  my  holy  mountain,  in  the  mountain  of  the  height  of  Israel,  saith 
the  Lord  God,  there  shall  all  the  house  of  Israel,  all  of  them  in 
the  land,  serve  me  :  there  will  I  accept  them,  and  there  will  I  re- 
quire your  offerings,  and  the  first-fruits  of  your  oblations,  with  all 
your  holy  things.  I  will  accept  you  with  your  sweet  savour, 
when  I  bring  you  out  from  the  people,  and  gather  you  out  of  the 
countries  wherein  ye  have  been  scattered  :  and  I  will  be  sanctified 
in  you  before  the  heathen.  And  there  shall  ye  remember  your 
ways,  and  all  your  doings,  wherein  ye  have  been  defiled ;  and  ye 
shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own  sight  for  all  your  evils  that 
ye  have  committed.  And  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the  Lord, 
when  I  have  wrought  with  you  for  my  name's  sake,  not  accord- 
ing to  your  wicked  ways,  nor  according  to  your  corrupt  doings, 
O  ye  house  of  Israel,  saith  the  Lord."  (Ezek.  xx.  40,  41,  43, 
44.)  David  says,  in  relation  to  the  ultimate  moral  redemption 
of  the  Jewish  nation  by  Jehovah,  "  thy  people  shall  he  willing  in 
the  day  of  thy  power."  (Ps.  ex.  3.)  And  how  was  this  willmg- 
ness  to  beeflfected  in  them  1  Paul  shall  answer  :  "  Work  out  your 
own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  for  it  is  God  which  work- 
eth  in  you,  BOTH  TO  WILL  AND  TO  DO  of  his  good  plea- 
sure." (Phil.  ii.  13.) 

Old  Mr.  Benevolus  promised  his  son,  that  he  might  have  the 
morrow  to  himself,  to  do  on  it  whatsoever  he  pleased  ;  whereupon 
John  planned  that  he  would  begin  the  day  with  fishing — he  would 
repair  to  a  neighboring  forest  and  hunt  until  noon,  and  the  residue 
of  the  day  he  would  devote  to  a  sailing  excursion  with  some  com- 
panions. '*  You  have  given  him  a  dangerous  license,  my  dear," 
observed  old  Mrs.  Benevolus,  when  John  was  out  of  hearing;  "I 
am  afraid  that  harm  will  come  of  it."  "  None  whatever,"  replied 
the  father,  "  for  without  violating  my  word  to  him  in  the  least,  I 
promise  you  he  shall  do  just  what  we  choose."     So  the  old  folk 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  295 

arranged  it  between  them  that  a  party  of  young  persons  should  be 
invited  to  spend  the  morrow  at  their  house  ;  all  kinds  of  attrac- 
tive amusement  were  included  in  the  plan,  and  among  the  party 
was  to  be  a  winning  nymph,  a  cousin  of  John's,  whose  bright  eyes 
were  known  to  exert  a  fascination  over  his  young  heart;  and 
there  was  to  be  music,  and  dancing,  and  every  variety  of  fruits 
and  confections  Jack  jumped,  and  tossed  his  hat  into  the  air  for 
joy — away  went  his  projected  schemes  of  fishing,  and  hunting, 
and  sailing;  for  he  would'nt  be  absent  from  the  party,  he  said,  for 
the  price  of  his  new  fowling-piece.  You  can  hardly  say,  reader, 
that  John  was  a  free  agent,  for  the  old  folks  controlled  his  will ; 
and  yet  you  perceive  he  did  just  as  he  pleased. 

You  may  not  like  this  view  of  things,  reader,  and  I  will  tell  you 
why  ;  it  is  not  flattering  to  your  self-love  ;  you  better  like  the  no- 
tion that  your  superiority  over  others  is  the  result  of  your  own  in- 
dependent exertions.  "  Not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift  of  God," 
is  a  text  which  soundeth  not  well  in  the  ear  of  your  pride  ;  and 
you  doubtless  thank  not  Paul  for  asking  the  troublesome  questions 
in  the  following  passage.  ''  For  who  maketh  thee  to  differ  from 
another  ?  and  what  hast  thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ]  now, 
if  thou  didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory,  as  if  thou  hadst  not 
received  it  1"  (1.  Cor.  iv.  7.)  And  since  this  brings  us  to  a  consi- 
deration of  ihe  religious  differences  between  some  and  others,  we 
may  as  well  get  to  close  quarters  on  this  branch  of  the  argument. 

A.  is  a  christian,  B.  is  not;  why  ?  "  Because  A.  chooses  so  to 
be,  and  B.  does  not."  But  why  do  A.  and  B.  choose  so  differ- 
ently ]  "  Because  the  one  is  naturally  less  perverse  and  obstinate 
than  the  other."  And  pray  who  made  the  one  to  be  thus  natu 
rally  less  vicious  than  the  other  1  You  are  here  brought  up  short, 
my  friend  reader.  If  B.  had  possessed  the  same  natural  disposi- 
tions and  advantages  as  A.,  is  it  not  plain  that  B.  would  be  a 
christian  too  ?  And  can  he  help,  (and  must  he  be  endlessly  damned 
for)  not  having  had  the  same  advantages'?  So  your  creed  im- 
pliedly asserts,  and  so  Calvinism  directly  decides ;  between  the 
two  isms,  therefore,  (as  I  have  said,)  there  is  not  a  hair's  breadth 
of  rational  difference.  It  is  no  detriment  to  Arminianism,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  essentially  identical  with  Calvinism;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  on  that  account  the  more  accordant  with  the  scriptures. 
(*'For  the  children  being  not  yet  born,  neither  having  done  any  good 


296  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

or  evil,  that  the  purpose  of  God  according  to  election  might  stand, 
not  of  works,  but  of  him  that  caileth,)  it  was  said  unto  her,  The 
elder  shall  serve  the  younger.  As  it  is  written,  Jacob  have  I 
loved,  but  Esau  have  1  hated.  What  shall  we  say  then  1  Is  there 
unrighteousness  with  God  1  God  forbid.  For  he  saith  to  Moses, 
I  will  have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have  mercy,  and  I  Mall  have 
compassion  on  whom  I  will  have  compassion.  So  then,  it  is  not 
of  him  that  willeth,  nor  of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  show- 
eth  mercy.  For  the  scripture  sailh  unto  Pharaoh,  Even  for  this 
same  purpose  have  I  raised  thee  up,  that  1  might  show  my  power 
in  thee,  and  that  my  name  might  be  declared  throughout  all  the 
earth.  Therefore  hath  he  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy, 
and  whom  he  will  he  hardeneth."  (Rom.  ix.  11 — 18.) 

It  is  impossible  to  read  the  writings  of  Paul  with  unbiased  mind, 
without  seeing  on  the  face  thereof  that  in  his  judgment  certain 
persons  are  elected  from  eternity  to  be  the  subjects  of  gospel  faith 
and  obedience,  whilst  others  are  doomed  to  remain  in  darkness 
and  unbelief.  Speaking  of  the  comparative  fewness  of  God's 
worshippers  in  the  days  of  Elijah,  he  represents  Jehovah  as  say- 
ing to  that  prophet,  "  I  have  reserved  to  myself  seven  thousand 
souls  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee  to  the  image  of  Baal."  (Rom. 
xi.  4.)  On  which  the  apostle  remarks,  "  Even  so  then  at  this 
present  time  also  there  is  a  remnant  according  to  the  election  of 
grace.  And  if  by  grace,  then  is  it  no  more  of  works;  otherwise 
grace  is  no  more  grace.  But  if  it  be  of  works,  then  is  it  no  more 
grace;  otherwise  work  is  no  more  work."  (Rom.  xi.  5,  6.)  The 
same  doctrine  is  carried  out  in  other  parts  of  the  scripture;  Christ 
tells  his  disciples,  "  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you."  (John  xv.  16.)  And  whilst  (as  before  shown  in  this  work) 
the  greater  number  of  the  Jewish  people  were  debarred  from  be- 
lief in  him  by  the  purposes  of  God,  a  knowledge  of  his  Messiah- 
ship  was  forced  upon  others,  who  are  termed  "the elect,"  and  in 
regard  to  whom  it  is  said,  "  and  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eter- 
nal life,  believed."  (Acts  xiii.  48.)  It  has  been  seen  that  Thomas 
did  not  believe  in  Christ  from  choice,  but  from  necessity  ,•  and  as- 
suredly Paul  himself  had  no  will  in  being  thrown  from  his  horse 
and  convinced  by  ocular  evidence  that  he  was  persecuting  the 
Lord  Messiah  !  Nothing  is  clearer  from  the  scriptures  than  that 
believers  in  those  times  regarded  themselves  as  particularly  elect- 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  297 

ed  and  foreordained  to  that  privilege.  "  According  as  he  hath 
chosen  us  in  him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we 
should  be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love  :  having 
predestinated  us  unto  the  adoption  of  children  by  Jesus  Christ  to 
himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  his  will."  (Ephe.  i.  4, 
5.)  Peter  plainly  sets  forth  the  same  fact  in  his  epistles  :  he  tells 
the  Gentile  converts  to  whom  he  writes,  that  while  the  Jews 
were  afore-appointed  unto  a  disobedience  and  rejection  of  the  gos- 
pel, that  themselves  were  an  elect  people,  "  a  chosen  generation  ;" 
having  now  obtained  mercy,  "  that  ye  should  show  forth  the 
praises  of  him  who  hath  called  you  out  of  darkness  into  his  mar- 
vellous light."  (1  Peter  ii.  7,  8,  9.) 

To  the  more  superficial  part  of  my  readers,  an  explanation  may 
be  necessary,  why  we  should  suffer  for  sin,  if  it  is  committed 
agreeably  to  the  fore-appointment  of  God.  Should  we  suffer  for 
what  we  cannot  help  1  Let  such  remember  that  they  are  as  much 
concerned  to  answer  this  question  as  I  am ;  for,  whatever  their  doc- 
trine may  be,  they  must  see  it  to  be  the  fact,  that  we  do  suffer  for 
what  we  cannot  help.  We  suffer  so  soon  as  we  are  born.  Can  we 
help  being  born  1  We  suffer  greatly  from  teething.  Can  we  help 
this  natural  operation  1  Many  of  us  suffer  from  hereditary  dis- 
eases. Can  we  help  those  diseases  \  And  lastly,  if  our  lives  are 
prolonged,  we  suffer  from  the  decay  of  age,  and  surely  we  cannot 
prevent  that  decay.  "  But  why  should  we  be  censured  and 
punished  for  sin,  if  its  commission  be  but  the  result  of  foreordi- 
nation  ?"  You  are  answered,  reader,  so  soon  as  you  answer 
yourself,  why  you  crush  with  detestation  the  odious  reptile  under 
your  foot,  when  you  know  it  cannot  help  being  the  reptile  that 
it  is  !  And  why  you  love  any  beautiful  being,  and  hate  a  loath- 
some one,  when  the  one  nor  the  other  can  account  for  being  what 
it  is  !  Truth  is,  our  Creator  has  designed  that  this  existence  should 
be  one  of  partial  suffering — moral  as  well  as  physical  suffering; 
and  in  appointing  the  end,  he  has  also  appointed  the  means.  Sin 
is  the  main  means  by  which  the  former  is  brought  on ;  he  who 
sins  most,  has  most  moral  suffering  :  God  has  joined  these  two 
things  together,  and  no  man  can  put  them  asunder.  The  reader 
will  therefore  learn  not  to  plead  this  doctrine  as  an  excuse  for 
sinning  the  more,  for,  so  sure  as  he  does  so,  he  must  suffer  the 
more.    All  this,  I  know,  would  reflect  no  glory  upon  the  Crea- 


298  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

tor's  character,  but  for  the  fact — the  glorious,  heart-cheering  fact, 
that  out  of  all  this  shall  issue  an  universally  benevolent  result; 
"  our  light  afflictions,  which  are  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us 
a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  vt^eight  of  glory." 

And  now,  my  smart  Free-thinker,  do  you  object  to  the  bible 
because  it  inculcates  this  doctrine  1  I  will  then  show  you  that  it 
is  as  accordant  with  fact  as  with  scripture.  Is  it  because  men 
please  that  one  is  born  of  rich,  and  another  of  poor  parents  ;  one 
of  vicious,  and  another  of  virtuous  parents;  one  grows  up  in  de- 
cent, and  another  in  profligate  society  1  Had  I  been  born  in  the 
Chinese  empire,  I  should,  in  a  civil  respect,  have  been  a  slave, 
and  in  a  religious,  a  worshipper  of  the  Mogul,  or  the  Lama.  Had 
I  been  born  of  Russian  peasants,  I  should  have  been  a  serf;  but 
having  been  born  in  America,  I  am  a  freeman.  Did  I  choose 
where,  or  of  what  parentage  I  should  be  born  1  No — this  in  the 
order  of  providence  was  determined  for  me  by  my  Creator.  Even 
in  Christendom  I  might  have  been  born  of  infidel  parents,  and  edu- 
cated in  infidel  principles,  in  which  case,  in  perfect  honesty  of 
heart,  I  should  have  probably  adopted  an  infidel  creed.  Or  I  might 
have  been  born  a  subject  of  certain  moral  imbecilities,  which 
would  have  determined  my  religious  character  for  life,  such  as  a 
flexibility  of  purpose  and  of  principle ;  my  intellect  might  have 
been  feeble,  lacking  in  forethought  and  judgment,  whilst  my  ani- 
mal propensities  might  have  been  violent.  Who  will  say,  that 
thus  constituted,  I  should  not  have  found  it  more  difficult  to 
be  a  virtuous  man,  than  do  others  of  different  natural  powers  and 
temperament  ?  Say  now,  if  you  can,  that  our  moral  characters 
are  determined  for  us  by  our  own  free  choice.  No  sir,  if  you  be- 
lieve in  a  God,  you  must  refer  all  the  events  of  life  to  his  pre-ap- 
pointment.  But  you  are  an  Atheist,  perhaps  1  Well  then,  your 
goddess.  Chance,  with  her  bandaged  eyes  and  dizzy  brain,  haa 
fixed  these  affairs  of  human  life  thus  irreversibly,  by  the  force  of 
her  blind  decrees.  And  are  we  profited  by  the  exchange  of  an 
Almighty  deity,  whose  benevolent  energies  are  unerringly, 

"  From  seeming  evil  still  educing  good, 
And  better  thence  again,  aud  better  still. 
In  infinite  progression," 

for  an  unseeing,  unthinking,  unfeeling  fatuity,  whose  hap-hazard 
determinations  can  never  be  brought  to  any  beneficent  conclusion  I 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  299 

The  Arminian's  favorite  and  stereotyped  maxim  is,  that  what- 
ever may  be  the  civil  or  the  constitutional  diflferences  among 
men,  the  spirit  of  God  operates  sufficiently  upon  all,  to  make 
each  man's  advantages  for  salvation  the  same,  and  to  4eave  all 
inexcusable  who  are  not  saved  at  last.  This  I  deny  : — the  scrip- 
tures, facts,  and  virtually  their  own  creeds  and  prayers,  deny  it ; 
they  are  in  the  constant  habit  of  thanking  God  for  advantages 
which  they  themselves  possess  over  others  Who,  that  has 
read  the  lives  of  Bunyan,  Tennant,  John  Newton,  Col.  Gardner, 
Brainard,  Bramwell,  the  Wesleys,  Adam  Clarke,  and  others  of 
that  class,  can  help  admitting  that  a  well  arranged  train  of  provi- 
dences determined  them  to  be  what  they  were  1  I  have  before 
shown  that  on  Christ's  own  authority,  God  did  less  for  Sodom 
than  he  afterward  did  for  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  and  that  the 
former  could  have  been  saved,  had  as  much  been  done  for  it  as 
had  been  done  for  the  latter !  And  God  himself  told  Jerusalem, 
which  he  spared,  that  her  sins  greatly  exceeded  those  of  Sodom, 
which  he  had  cut  off!  (Ezek.  xvi.)  Has  the  sinner  who  is  cut 
off  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  and  just  as  he  is  ripened  for  hell, 
equal  advantage  with  him  who  lives  in  sin  until  his  hairs  are 
hoary,  and  who  then  from  sheer  satiety  turns  from  sin  with  loath- 
ing, and  prepares  for  heaven  1  If  the  natural  advantages  of  all 
men  were  equal,  and  an  equal  measure  of  divine  assistance  were 
afforded  to  all,  it  is  certain  that  the  effect  upon  all  would  be  the 
same,  and  if  ani/  would  be  christians  all  would  be.  If  even  the 
natural  advantages  of  all  men  were  not  equal,  yet  if  the  measure 
of  divine  assistance  were  proportioned  to  the  requirements  of 
each,  the  same  result  would  follow ;  for  similar  causes  will  inva- 
riably, under  like  circumstances,  produce  similar  results.  But  all 
men  are  not  in  a  like  degree  affected  by  divine  grace  ;  therefore, 
all  men  have  not  the  sq,me  opportunities  afforded  them  in  this  world, 
for  securing  their  salvation  in  the  next.  Thus  Arminianism  is 
logically  refuted.  For  example,  if  my  organ  of  veneration  (phre- 
nologically  speaking)  is  smaller  than  another's,  it  will  require 
more  external  means  to  excite  religious  aflfections  in  me  than  in 
him  ;  if  more  is  not  granted  me,  and  he  have  but  barely  enough 
for  his  salvation,  it  will  follow  that  I  shall  be  damned  for  tbe  lack 
of  the  aid  which  my  Maker  saw  to  be  indispensable  to  my  salva- 
tion.    Could  I  prevent  that  lack  ?     Or,  if  my  organ  of  marvel- 


300  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

lousness  is  small,  I  shall  require  more  evidence  to  satisfy  me  of 
the  truth  of  Christianity  than  will  another  of  greater  credulity; 
if  that  additional  evidence  is  withheld,  should  I  (as  I  could  not 
help  it)  be  eternally  damned  therefor?  God  created  some  to  the 
clearly  foreseen  end  that  they  should  suffer  an  eternity  of  pains : 
did  he  love  these  as  well  as  those  whom  he  created  to  a  different 
end  1  Say  nay,  and  you  pronounce  him  partial  ;  say  yea,  and  it 
follows,  as  he  is  unchangeable,  that  the  wicked  inhabitants  of 
hell  shall  to  eternity  be  as  much  the  subjects  of  his  love  as  the 

pure  inhabitants  of  heaven  !     Once  more But  what  boots  it  to 

chase  Arminianisra  through  its  various  corkscrew  windings !  I 
have  already  shown  it  to  be  one  with  Calvinism  in  fact,  and  only 
differing  from  it  in  verbal  modification  ;  its  abettors  are  constantly 
letting  out  this  truth  in  their  prayers,  and  sermons,  and  related 
experiences,  John  Wesley,  in  his  tract  on  the  efficacy  of  prayer, 
for  example,  relates  that  a  certain  woman  implored  the  Lord  to 
dedicate  to  himself  her  infant  from  its  birth,  and  to  make  it  the 
subject  of  his  special  protection  ;  consequently,  saith  the  good 
but  credulous  divine,  the  earliest  lispings  of  that  child  were  pray- 
ers and  expressions  of  piety ;  and  when  he  grew  up,  he  became 
an  eminent  christian.  Now,  to  say  nothing  of  the  weakness  of 
supposing,  that  the  unchangeable  Jehovah  could  be  induced  by 
the  mother's  prayers  to  love  the  poor  child  better  than  he  other- 
wise would  have  done,  and  to  take  the  case  as  it  stands,  what  does 
it  prove  1  It  proves  that  because  the  mother  implored  him  to  be 
so,  he  was  partial  to  that  child  ;  he  did  more  for  it  than  for  others : 
independently  of  its  own  agency  he  stamped  upon  it  a  religious 
character,  by  virtue  of  which,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  it  got  to  heaven 
at  last;  it  might  otherwise  have  got  to  an  endless  hell ! 

"  Great  God  !  on  what  a  slender  thread 
Hang  everlasting  things !" 

So  exclaims  an  Arminian  poet,  and  well  may  he  so  exclaim. 

Believe  me,  reader,  it  is  not  possible  to  avoid  the  conclusion, 
that  all  events  take  place  agreeably  to  the  unalterable  decrees  of 
Jehovah ;  whether  we  look  at  facts,  as  recorded  in  history  or  in 
our  own  experience,  or  as  they  transpire  around  us,  or  whether 
we  examine  the  subject  in  the  light  of  the  scriptures  or  of  com- 
mon sense,  we  are  irresistibly  brought  to  this  conclusion :  most 
gladly  would  I  have  avoided  it  if  it  had  been  possible,  for  my 


FOREKNOWLEDGE  AND  FOREORDINATION.  301 

prepossessions  were  strong,  and  of  long  standing  against  it ;  and 
even  though  at  length  convinced  of  its  truth,  yet  had  I  a  struggle 
with  the  remnant  of  prejudice  within  me  ere  I  could  consent  to 
discuss  it  in  this  work.  I  feared  two  things  ;  1st,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  necessity  (as  it  is  called)  might  prove  practically  injuri- 
ous ;  and,  God  knows,  I  would  not  consent  to  acquire  wealth  or 
fame  (allowing  my  poor  production  could  procure  me  either)  by 
means  which  might  prove  injurious  to  mankind.  After  duly 
weighing  this  consideration,  I  came  to  the  following  conclusion : 
Truth  is  from  God,  it  therefore  cannot  be  injurious,  but  the  con- 
trary ;  moreover,  the  brightest  lights  of  the  christian  church,  of 
all  past  ages,  have  believed  in,  and  maintained  this  truth ;  many 
even  who  have  suffered  martyrdom  for  the  cause  of  Christ — a 
great  majority  of  the  Scotch  nation  (not  notorious  for  impiety, 
certainly)  have  always  maintained  it  since  they  became  protestant : 
our  pilgrim  fathers,  too,  were  unanimous  in  its  belief.  Indeed,  if 
we  but  reflect  seriously  upon  it  we  must  see,  that  this  truth  not 
only  exalts  the  divine  character,  but  it  furnishes  inducements  to 
man  to  trust  in  God,  and  cheerfully  to  acquiesce  in  the  allotments 
of  his  providence,  inasmuch  as  all  are  to  be  brought  to  a  good 
issue  at  the  last ;  whereas  the  persuasion  that  all  things,  even 
interests  of  endless  and  inconceivable  magnitude,  are  left  contin- 
gent on  the  vagaries  of  human  will,  must  necessarily  tend  to 
affect  the  mind  with  despair— to  induce  distrusts  of  God's  wis- 
dom and  goodness — to  beget  suspicions  that  in  omitting  to  provide 
against  our  final  undoing,  he  betrayed  a  recklessness  in  regard 
to  us,  quite  incompatible  with  his  professions  of  love,  and  of 
desire  for  our  salvation.  Thus  my  first  objection  to  a  discussion 
of  this  point  was  removed.   My  2nd  was,  that  it  would  render  my 

book  more  vulnerable  to to  what  1    Not  to  valid  objections, 

reader,  but  to  misrepresentation ;  to  the  vapid  common-place  of 
party  decrial,  &c.  for  religious  controversy  is  conducted  frequent- 
ly with  great  dishonesty ;  however,  this  weighs  little  with  me, 
for  I  must  not  suppress  truth  from  a  fear  of  what  the  consequences 
of  its  publication  may  be  to  myself.  I  have  published  it,  there- 
fore, and  if  any  should  undertake  its  refutation,  I  beg  them  to  be 
assured,  that  their  success  will  not  be  hailed  with  greater  pleasure 
by  their  own  party,  than  by  the  author. 
Vol.  I.— 2  A 


302  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

ELECTION  AND   REPROBATION 

SCRIPTURALLY  ILLUSTRATED. 

This  article,  reader,  is  designed  as  a  sequel  to  the  one  forego- 
ing, and  in  this  many  important  points  will  be  cleared  up,  which 
in  that  were  left  out  of  view,  for  I  wish  to  avoid  fatiguing_  your 
mind  by  over-long  articles ;  and  I  hope,  moreover,  to  gain  your 
attention  the  better  by  varying  the  style  of  the  whole  as  much  as 
possible  :  for  this  purpose  we  shall  prosecute  the  residue  of  this 
branch  of  our  discussion  in  a  conversational  form ;  the  parties  in 
the  conversation  are  supposed  to  be  a  Calvinist,  an  Arminian,  and 
the  author. 

Calvinist,  I  most  fully  concur  in  your  conclusion,  that  absolute 
foreknowledge  necessarily  implies  absolute  foreordination ;  and 
therefore  that  all  things  exist  agreeably  to  the  divine  will  and  ap- 
pointment: I  often  tell  my  Arminian  brethren  that  their  notion  of 
a  God  who  leaves  the  most  momentous  affairs  to  be  determined  by 
contingencies,  is  but  little,  if  any,  better  than  atheism  ;  because, 
like  it,  it  makes  it  a  matter  of  mere  chance  whether  existing  things 
shall  issue  in  a  desirable  order  and  harmony,  or  whether  they  shall 
progress  from  bad  to  worse  to  eternity  :  even  in  heaven  we  may 
not  be  secure  against  the  bad  effects  of  free  agency ;  another 
rebellion  may  take  place  there,  another  battle,  and  another  expul- 
sion of  a  part  of  its  blissful  inhabitants  to  the  dwelling  place  of 
the  damned. 

Arminian.  But  you  forget,  sir,  that  we  have  the  positive  word 
of  Jehovah,  that  the  state  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven  shall  be  one 
of  changeless  felicity. 

Calvinist.  Yes,  he  has  so  promised,  I  grant,  and  he  may  mean 
that  such  shall  be  the  case  ;  but  it  is  none  the  more  certain  for  that, 
if  your  doctrine  be  true,  for  he  is  constantly  breaking  through  his 
purposes,  and  doing  acts  which  he  meant  not  to  do !  He  meant 
that  sin  should  never  enter  the  world,  yet  it  entered ;  he  meant 
that  man  should  live  eternally  in  Eden,  yet  he  drove  him  out ;  he 
meant  that  man  should  be  immortal,  yet  he  dies  ;  he  meant  too 
that  his  Son  should  save  the  world,  yet  by  much  the  larger  part 
of  it  is  to  be  damned !    In  like  manner,  he  may  very  sincerely 


ELECTION  AND  REPROBATION.  303 

mean  that  our  future  bliss  shall  be  changeless,  yet  it  may  prove 
quite  otherwise ;  and  the  time  in  future  ages  may  come,  when  all 
the  purity  and  the  bliss  in  existence  may  be  confined  to  his  own 
essence,  and  all  the  universe  besides  may  be  a  chaos  of  sin  and 
desolation. 

Author.  And  besides  that,  my  friend  Arminian,  God,  you  say, 
does  not  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  the  will,  and  therefore,  he 
cannot  keep  you  in  heaven  if  he  would,  provided  you  should 
make  up  your  mind  not  to  stay  there.  If  you  can  point  out  a  way 
in  which,  consistently  with  free  agency,  he  can  prevent  you  from 
sinning  in  heaven,  you  will  show  a  way  by  which  he  could  have 
prevented  our  sinning  on  earth,  and  drawing  down  infinite  ruin 
upon  our  heads  :  if  you  say  that  he  did  not  choose  to  employ  that 
way,  you  in  effect  assert  that  he  did  not  choose  to  save  us,  by  the 
only  mode  practicable,  from  sin  and  eternal  woe  !  And  what  is 
this  but  taking  Calvinistic  ground  outright? 

Calvinist.  Well,  to  continue  the  subject  with  which  I  begun,  I 
am  heartily  glad  to  find  that  we  can  travel  the  same  road  with  re- 
gard to  the  divine  decrees,  and  the  utter  exclusion  of  human  works 
and  human  will  from  the  business  of  salvation ;  but  our  road 
forks  at  length,  I  perceive  ;  you  assume  that  God  has  decreed  to 
save  all  men,  and  that  in  due  time  he  will  effectually  call  and 
bring  them  in,  if  not  in  time,  at  some  period  beyond ;  here,  then, 
we  must  part,  for  our  road  branches  into  two,  between  which 
there  is  a  wide  separation.  You  admit  the  doctrine  of  election 
to  be  scriptural ;  why  not  then  the  doctrine  of  reprobation  also, 
for  the  one  presupposes  the  other  ? 

Author.  Not  always.  Do  our  elections  at  the  polls  presuppose 
the  reprobation  of  the  public  ?  On  the  contrary,  the  good  of  the 
mass,  who  are  not  elected,  is  consulted,  and  designed  to  be  sub- 
served by  the  instrumentality  of  those  who  are.  When  an  indi- 
vidual is  proposed  for  an  office  among  us,  we  inquire  whether  he 
will  be  likely  to  prove  a  faithful  public  servant — whether  he  will 
be  true  to  the  interests  of  his  constituents — and  being  satisfied  on 
this  head,  we  give  him  our  suffrages;  thus  it  is  seen,  that  in  elect- 
ing some  to  distinguished  places,  instead  of  reprobating  the 
residue,  we  propose  the  general  good.  God  elects  on  the  same 
principle.  Why  were  the  Jews  elected  to  be  God's  peculiar 
people?    Evidently  that  the  true  worship  of  God  might  be  pre- 


304  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

served  in  the  world,  until  the  time  should  be  ripe  for  its  more 
general  diffusion.  In  electing  Pharaoh  (in  the  order  of  his  provi- 
dence) to  be  king  of  Egypt,  Jehovah  had  views  to  the  good  of 
the  world  at  large  ;  not  only  that  he  might  show  his  power  in 
him,  but  also  that  his  name  might  be  declared  throughout  all  the 
earth.  (Rom.  ix.  17.)  The  Savior  himself  was  elected  to  ends 
of  universal  benevolence.  "  Behold  my  servant,  whom  I  uphold  ; 
mine  elect,  in  whom  my  soul  delighteth :  I  have  put  my  Spirit 
upon  him;  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles.  A 
bruised  reed  shall  he  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  shall  he  not 
quench  :  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  unto  truth.  He  shall  not 
fail  nor  be  discouraged,  till  he  have  set  judgment  in  the  earth : 
and  the  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law.  I  the  Lord  have  called  thee 
in  righteousness,  and  will  hold  thy  hand,  and  will  keep  thee,  and 
give  thee  for  a  covenant  of  the  people,  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles ; 
to  open  the  blind  eyes,  to  bring  out  the  prisoners  from  the  prison, 
and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the  prison-house.  (Isaiah  xlii. 
1,  3.  4,  6,  7.)  Christ  elected  his  apostles  also,  not  for  their  own 
exclusive  good,  but  as  his  instruments  in  diffusing  the  blessings 
of  the  gospel  to  mankind  at  large.  And  those  who  through  faith 
in  the  gospel  are  brought  to  a  present  knowledge  and  enjoyment 
of  God,  are  far  from  being  to  be  considered  the  whole  harvest  of 
grace  in  the  world  ;  they  are  but  "  a  kind  of  first-fruits  of  his 
creatures."  (James  i.  18.)  Now  to  all  acquainted  with  Jewish 
usages,  it  is  known  that  the  first-fruits,  when  presented  as  an  oflfer- 
ing  to  the  Lord,  were  (if  accepted)  considered  as  an  earnest  of  the 
successful  ingathering  of  the  entire  harvest ;  to  this  fact  Paul 
alludes,  when  he  says,  "  for  if  the  first-fruits  be  holy,  the  lump 
is  also  holy."  (Rom.  xi.  16.)  And  this  remark  from  him  is  par- 
ticularly worthy  of  notice,  when  we  consider  its  application ;  for 
reprobated  as  were  at  that  time  the  bulk  of  the  Jewish  people, 
yet  they  are  all  to  be  brought  in  at  last  (as  the  apostle  argues)  for 
the  first-fruits  of  the  nation  (the  patriarchal  fathers)  were  holy  : 
"  And  as  is  the  root,  so  are  the  branches."  The  apostle  introduces 
the  same  figure  also  when  maintaining  that  the  whole  creation 
shall  be  redeemed,  and  that  the  bliss  of  any  portion  thereof  must 
necessarily  be  incomplete  until  that  important  event  is  consum- 
mated ;  there  is  (he  represents)  an  earnest  looking  and  longing 
for  it  on  the  part  of  all  creatures.     "  And  not  only  they,  but  qui- 


ELECTION  AND  REPROBATION.  305 

selves  also,  which  have  the  first-fruits  of  the  Spirit ;  even  we  our- 
selves groan  within  ourselves,  waiting  for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the 
redemption  of  our  body."-  (Rom.  viii.  23.)  He  again  employs 
the  figure  of  the  first-fruits  when  treating  on  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  ;  he  considers  the  presentation  and  acceptance  of  Christ 
our  spiritual  head  as  the  first-fruits  from  the  grave,  to  be  a  sure 
pledge  of  the  ultimate  gathering  in  of  the  whole  harvest  of  man- 
kind. "  But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become  the 
Jirst-fruits  of  them  that  slept.  For  since  by  man  came  death,  by 
man  came  also  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all 
die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  But  every  man  in 
his  own  order:  Christ  the  first-fruits ,-  afterward  they  that  are 
Christ's  at  his  coming.  Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall 
have  delivered  up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father;  when 
he  shall  have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  authority  and  power. 
For  he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet. 
The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death.  For  he  hath  put 
all  things  under  his  feet.  But  when  he  saith,  all  things  are  put 
under  him,  it  is  manifest  that  he  is  excepted  which  did  put  all 
things  under  him.  And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto 
him,  then  shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto  him  that 
put  all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all."  (1  Cor. 
XV.  20 — 28.)  In  this  view  of  election  there  is  nothing  repulsive 
to  common  sense,  to  justice,  to  goodness,  as  there  undeniably  is 
in  the  Calvinistic  view  of  the  subject.  On  the  contrary,  all  is 
here  consistent,  beautiful,  benevolent ;  the  elect  of  God  are  but 
the  first  fruits  of  his  grace ;  the  present  earnest  of  that  victory 
over  sin,  and  assimilation  to  infinite  purity,  which  it  will  eventu- 
ally achieve  in  the  whole  human  race. 

Calvinist.  Very  pretty,  I  grant ;  very  plausible  too,  to  mere 
human  reason,  but  we  are  not  to  estimate  things  by  the  standard 
of  our  frail  judgments;  we  are  to  remember  that  we  are  infinite 
offenders  against  God,  and  as  such,  deserving  of  his  holy  displea- 
sure to  all  eternity.     Consequently,  we 

Arminian,  Stay  !  I  wish  to  know  how  we  can  deserve  God's 
displeasure  to  all  eternity,  if,  (as  you  and  the  author  both  main- 
tain,) we  are  not  free  agents  ;  we  do  only  such  things  as  he  fore- 
ordained we  should  do ;  we  cannot  be  righteous  except  he  see 
fit  to  make  us  so,  and  yet  for  not  being  what  we  could  not  be, 

Vol.  I.— 2a2 


306  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

we  are  deserving  of  the  great  Jehovah's  infinite  displeasure ! 
Why,  my  dear  sir,  one  must  have  a  credulity  equal  to  an  earth- 
quake to  swallow  all  this  ! 

Author.  You  swallow  it,  nevertheless,  my  friend,  as  well  as  he, 
for  I  have  proven  sin  to  have  been  foreordained  on  your  principles 
as  well  as  on  his ;  your  notion  of  man's  free  agency  I  have  shown 
to  be  a  fantasm,  and  consequently,  if  it  is  unjust  and  cruel  in  God 
to  inflict  endless  suffering  on  his  ground,  it  is  equally  so  on 
your's.  The  doctrine  of  endless  misery  is  equally  indefensible  on 
either ;  it  reflects  equal  discredit  upon  the  divine  character  on  both. 

Calvinisi  and  Arminian.  Yes,  if  mere  human  reason  is  to  be 
the  judge. 

Author.  As  a  human  being,  I  can  have  no  other  than  human 
reason  ;  I  must  either  exercise  that,  or  none ;  if  none,  why  are  the 
claims  of  God  upon  my  love,  my  homage,  my  confidence,  pressed 
upon  my  consideration  ?  If  my  understanding  cannot  comprehend 
the  acts  of  my  Creator,  I  cannot  then  know  whether  they  are  wise 
or  foolish,  good  or  evil,  and  therefore  I  cannot  tell  whether  he  is 
entitled  to  my  love  or  my  hatred,  my  admiration  or  my  con- 
tempt. The  very  fact  of  our  being  called  on  to  adore  and  serve 
him,  presupposes  our  capacity  to  understand  the  nature  and  the 
grounds  of  our  obligations  to  him.  Away  !  then,  with  your 
senseless  decrials  of  human  reason,  for  Jehovah  himself  has  hon- 
ored it  by  frequent  appeals  to  it  in  his  word. 
•  Calvinisi.  Well,  waiving  that  matter  for  the  present,  let  us 
attend  further  to  the  original  point  between  us  :  you  have  shown 
that  election  does  not  necessarily  imply  reprobation.  I  grant  it 
does  not,  but  I  still  contend  that  there  are  some  cases  of  special 
reprobation  brought  to  view  in  the  scriptures.  Take  the  follow- 
ing as  instances  :  "  But  if  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that 
are  lost :  in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds 
of  them  which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel 
of  Christ  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them." 
(2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4.)  "  And  for  this  cause  God  shall  send  them 
strong  delusion,  that  they  should  believe  a  lie ;  that  they  all 
might  be  damned  who  believed  not  the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in 
unrighteousness."  (2  Thes.  ii.  11,  12.) 

Author.  I  have  not  meant  to  deny  the  scripture  doctrine  of 
reprobation;  on  the  contrary,  I  have  shown  that  whilst  some  are 


ELECTION  AND  REPROBATION.  307 

called  to  eminent  gospel  privileges,  others,  (at  least  in  this  life,) 
are  excluded  from  all  participation  therein.  Yet,  thanks  to  God  ! 
we  are  not  left  in  hopeless  darkness  as  to  the  final  fate  of  even 
these  reprobates ;  the  great  apostle  has  most  satisfactorily  cleared 
up  this  point :  he  has  shown  that  there  is  to  be  an  eventual  and 
universal  ingathering  of  reprobated  Israel,  when  the  fulness  of 
the  (once  rejected,  but  subsequently  elected)  Gentiles  be  come 
in ;  in  the  very  casting  off  of  the  Jewish  people,  mercy  was  de- 
signed to  the  rest  of  the  world.  "  I  say  then,  Have  they  stum- 
bled that  they  should  fall  ?  God  forbid  :  but  rather  through  their 
fall  salvation  is  come  unto  the  Gentiles,  for  to  provoke  them  to 
jealousy.  Now,  if  the  fall  of  them  be  the  riches  of  the  world, 
and  the  diminishing  of  them  the  riches  of  the  Gentiles ;  how 
much  more  their  fulness  ]  For  if  the  casting  away  of  them  be  ihe 
reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of  them  be,  but 
life  from  the  dead  V  (Rom.  xi.  11,  12,  15.)  This  will  show  the 
purpose  of  God  in  sending  them  "  strong  delusions  ;"  and  it  also 
shows  us  the  end  of  the  damnation  consequent  thereof:  the  same 
is  also  expressed  in  the  following.  *'  For  as  ye  in  times  past  have 
not  believed  God,  yet  have  now  obtained  mercy  through  their 
unbelief;  even  so  have  these  also  now  not  believed,  that  through 
your  mercy  they  also  may  obtain  mercy.  For  God  hath  concluded 
them  all  in  unbelief,  that  he  might  have  mercy  upon  all."  (Ibid. 
30 — 32.)  We  see  then  that  the  "  lost,"  to  whom,  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles,  the  gospel  was  "  hid,"  were  not  by  Paul  considered 
as  irrecoverably  so ;  it  was  "  the  lost"  whom  Christ  came  "  to 
seek  and  to  save."  Neither  does  it  follow,  that  because  some 
seem  at  the  present  in  a  far-gone  condition  of  darkness  and  sin, 
they  are  eternally  to  remain  in  it. 

Calvinist.  What  meant  the  Savior,  then,  when  he  represented 
such  only  to  be  his  sheep  as  hear  his  voice  and  follow  him  ]  And 
does  not  his  promise  that  he  gives  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  that 
they  shall  never  perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of  his 
hand,  imply  on  the  face  of  it  that  he  will  not  do  the  same  for  all 
the  human  race  ? 

Author.  It  certainly  implies  that  he  does  not  do  the  same  for 
all,  but  not  that  he  never  will.  It  is  granted  that  some  are  his 
people  in  a  peculiar  sense,  and  that  others  are  not  so  at  the  present 
time ;  but  if  we  affirm  that  the  same  shall  to  all  eternity  be  the 


308  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

case,  we  must  set  a  large  part  of  the  bible  at  nought.  Jesus  him- 
self says,  "  And  other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold  ; 
them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my  voice ;  and  there 
shall  be  one  fold, and  one  shepherd."  (Johnx.  16.)  Even  in  our 
strayed  condition  we  are  spoken  of  as  sheep  of  his  flock,  and  he-, 
as  the  shepherd,  pursues  in  order  to  bring  us  back  to  the  fold'. 
*' All  we,  like  sheep,  have  gone  astray  ;  we  have  turned  every 
one  to  his  own  way ;  and  the  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity 
of  us  all."  (Isa.  liii.  6.)  Who  that  has  read,  and  attentively- 
considered,  the  beautiful  parable  of  the  lost  sheep,  can  doubt  the 
benevolent  perseverance  of  the  shepherd  in  pursuing  sinful  and 
wandering  man,  until  he  has  fully  succeeded  in  the  object  of  the 
pursuit  1  Truth  is,  that  elect  and  reprobate  are  distinctions  belong- 
ing to  time  only,  and  not  even  to  all  of  time ;  for,  as  before  shown, 
the  Jews,  once  highly  favored,  are  now  reprobate  ;  the  Gentiles, 
once  reprobate,  are  now  highly  favored.  Anon  the  Jews  shall  be 
gathered  in  with  the  fulness  of  the  Gentiles,  and  all  distinctions 
shall  be  lost  forever ;  there  shall  then  be  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
barbarian  nor  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  but  all  shall  be  one  in  Christ 
Jesus.  In  the  speech  which  James  delivered  in  the  apostolic 
council  at  Jerusalem,  the  doctrine  of  election  and  reprobation  is 
presented  in  perfect  harmony  with  these  views.  "  Simeon  hath 
declared  how  God  at  the  first  did  visit  the  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of 
them  a  people  for  his  name.  [These  were  the  elect ;  some  taken 
out  from  the  mass  as  subjects  for  gospel  grace.]  And  to  this 
agree  the  words  of  the  prophets  ;  as  it  is  written.  After  this  I 
will  return,  and  will  build  again  the  tabernacle  of  David  which  is 
fallen  down ;  and  I  will  build  again  the  ruins  thereof,  and  I 
will  set  it  up  ;  that  the  residue  of  men  [those  left,  after  some  had 
been  taken  out]  might  seek  after  the  Lord,  and  all  the  Gentiles, 
upon  whom  my  name  is  called,  saith  the  Lord,  whodoethall  these 
things."  (Acts  xv.  14 — 17.)  We  here  have  the  rejected,  the 
passed  by,  the  reprobates,  plainly  brought  in  at  last ;  and  were  it 
otherwise,  the  declarations  that  God  is  impartial,  and  that  his 
ways  are  equal,  would  be  without  any  meaning  intelligible  to 
mankind. 

Calvinisi.  It  is  not  partiality  in  the  great  Jehovah  to  damn  one 
sinner  according  to,  and  save  another  contrary  to,  his  deservings  ; 
in  the  one  case  he  glorifies  his  justice,  in  the  other  his  gracev 


ELECTION  AND  REPROBATION.  309 

All  deserve  to  bo  damned,  and  would  be  damned  but  for  his  elect- 
ing mercy,  which  snatches  some  from  their  merited  doom,  "  as 
brands  from  the  burning."  The  non-elect  have  no  ground  for 
complaint,  for  their  condition  is  rendered  no  worse  by  the  sal- 
vation of  others  than  it  otherwise  would  be  ;  hence  with  the 
pious  Baxter  we  may  exclaim,  "  Let  deserved  be  written  upon  the 
gates  of  hell,  but  on  the  gates  of  heaven  be  inscribed  the  free 

GIFT." 

Author.  Did  not  your  creed  blind  your  eyes  to  the  light  of  reason, 
my  friend,  you  would  be  far  from  satisfied  with  this  disposition  of 
the  case ;  for,  first,  as  our  friend  Arminian  has  shown,  endless 
ruin  is  not,  cannot  he,  deserved,  by  acting  in  accordance  with  the 
divine  pre-appointment.  And,  in  the  second  place,  if  it  even 
were  deserved,  both  justice,  and  the  principle  of  impartiality,  re- 
quire that  either  all  should  be  punished  alike,  or  pardoned  alike, 
since  all  are  alike  involved  in  a  common  guilt.  What  would  be 
thought  of  a  chief  magistrate,  (in  whom  our  constitution  has 
vested  the  pardoning  power,  for  discretionary  exercise,)  if  he, 
acting  on  the  principle  you  ascribe  to  the  deity,  should  pardon 
one  part  of  a  piratical  crew,  and  hang  the  other,  when  both  were 
equally  guilty]  Would  the  public  mind  oppiove  so  aibitrory  and 
capricious  a  use  of  his  prerogative  %  On  the  contrary,  would  it 
not  arouse  against  him  the  honest  indignation  of  every  thinking 
man  %  If  some  of  the  pirates  were  less  deserving  of  death  than 
others,  that  would  alter  the  case ;  but  this  is  not  the  posture  in 
which  your  creed  places  it :  according  to  it,  all  are  alike  guilty, 
and  alike  deserving  of  punishment;  and  yet  that  same  God 
whose  "  ways  are  equal,"  and  "  who  will  render  unto  every  man 
according  to  his  works,"  damns  some  according  to,  an.d  saves 
others  contrary  to,  their  deservings  !  Truly,  my  friend,  to  believe 
this  does  require  a  most  marvellous  credulity ! 

Arminian.  Mr.  Author,  I  like  your  views  of  election  and  rep- 
robation right  well,  they  effectually  vindicate  the  goodness  and 
equity  of  our  Creator :  but  I  cannot  be  reconciled  to  your  views 
of  foreordination  ;  nor  can  I  see  any  use,  if  they  be  correct,  in 
your  preaching,  writing,  or  using  other  means  for  the  reformation 
of  mankind.  Why,  I  ask,  do  you  use  means  in  order  to  an  end 
which  is  unchangeably  foreordained  ? 

Author,    Because  they  also  are  foreordained.    Isaiah  announced 


310  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

to  Hezekiab,  king  of  Judah,  that  God  had  appointed  him  to  live 
yet  fifteen  years ;  nevertheless,  this  did  not  prevent,  on  the  part 
of  the  sick  monarch,  a  recourse  to  medical  means  for  his  recovery. 
(Isaiah  xxxviii.  21.)  "  Except  these  abide  in  the  ship,"  said  Paul, 
*'  ye  cannot  be  saved,"  notwithstanding  that  God  had  told  him  that 
they  should  all  escape,  and  become  converts  to  the  gospel  by  his 
means.  "  For  there  stood  by  me  this  night  the  angel  of  God, 
whose  I  am,  and  whom  I  serve,  saying.  Fear  not,  Paul ;  thou 
must  be  brought  before  Cesar:  and,  lo,  God  hath  given  thee  all 
them  that  sail  with  thee.  Wherefore,  Sirs,  be  of  good  cheer  :  for 
I  believe  God,  that  it  shall  be  even  as  it  was  told  me."  (Acts 
xxvii.  23 — 25.)  It  is  presumed  that  Paul  did  not  preach  to  these 
the  less  on  account  of  the  assurance  that  they  were  to  be  given  to 
him  for  converts  ;  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  he  excused  himself 
with  the  plea,  that  as  God  had  purposed  their  conversion,  it 
would  be  eflfected  with  or  without  means. 

f  Cahinist.  I  fully  approve  your  answer  ;  the  purpose  respect- 
ing the  salvation  of  the  elect  is  indeed  unalterable,  and  the  number 
of  the  same  "  is  so  fixed  and  definite,  that  it  can  neither  be  added 
to,  nor  diminished."  Still,  as  you  have  said,  he  who  has  ap- 
pointed the  end,  h^a  =-^oo  with  it  appointed  the  means  whereby  it 
is  to  be  effected  :  and  the  same  is  true  with  regard  to  the  reprobate  ; 
they  are  to  be  damned  by  the  agency  of  appointed  means — the 
gospel  was  appointed  "  a  savour  of  life  unto  life,  and  of  death 
unto  death." 

Arminian.  The  poor  reprobate  then  would  have  been  better  off 
without  it,  if  it  is  only  to  prove  to  him  an  instrument  of  final  ruin. 
This  is  truly  horrible  !  It  follows  conclusively  from  your  view, 
that  the  gospel  is  an  occasion  of  greater  evil  than  good,  by  as 
much  as  the  number  of  the  damned  will  exceed  that  of  the  saved  ! 
And  is  this  "  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God  V  Oh  !  assuredly 
not.  I  see  now  a  great  utility  in  preaching  on  universalist  prin- 
ciples, inasmuch  as  it  is  to  be  an  effectual  means  in  God's  own 
time  and  way  of  bringing  into  the  fold  of  life  the  whole  of  human 
kind ;  an  end,  this,  worthy  of  such  means  !  and  a  means,  this,  (I 
may  add)  worthy  of  such  an  end  !  But  to  preach  the  glorious 
gospel  to  intelligent  creatures  for  the  mere  purpose  of  furnishing 
an  excuse  for  damning  them  eternally !  God  of  heaven  !  how 
diseased  by  corrupting  creeds  must  be  the  mind  of  that  man,  who 


ELECTION  AND  REPROBATION.  311 

can  tolerate  such  an  absurdity !  You  affirm  that"  the  gospel  is 
appointed  as  a  sure  means  of  bringing  about  a  total  ruin  to 
millions — the  universalist  has  it  a  sure  means  of  accomplishing 
a  final  salvation  for  all. 

Calvinist,  And  according  to  'Arminianism  it  will  prove  a  sure 
means  of  accomplishing  nothing !  It  may,  or  it  may  not,  just  as  it 
shair  happen  !  All  may  be  saved,  or  none  !  God  may  prevail,  or 
the  devil  !  hell  may  be  useless,  because  tenantless,  or  all  the  uni- 
verse besides  may  be  depopulated  to  people  it !  all  is  uncertainty, 
nothing  is  sure  !  Now,  agreeably  to  my  system,  something,  at 
least,  is  certain  ;  the  purposes  of  Jehovah,  seconded  by  his  power 
to  fulfil  them,  are  a  guarantee  that  he  has  not  created  in  vain ; 
nor  has  Jesus  died,  nor  the  scriptures  been  given,  nor  the  gospel 
been  preached,  nor  the  spirit  operated,  but  that  all  whom  from 
eternity  he  designed  for  salvation,  shall  be  saved. 

Arminian.  All  whom  he  designed  for  salvation  !  I  wonder  then 
you  don't  turn  universalist  at  once ;  fori  am  sure  it  is  susceptible 
of  easy  and  clear  proof,  that  all  were  designed  for  salvation  ;  and 
if  all  so  designed  shall  be  saved,  why  then,  all  shall  be  saved  ! 
This  is  giving  in  to  universalism  with  a  witness. 

Author.  Well,  well,  gentlemen,  we  may  as  well  bring  our 
conversation  to  a  close,  for  you  cannot  sufficiently  agree  together 
to  unite  in  opposing  me ;  on  the  contrary,  you  make  oui  a  clear 
proof  of  my  doctrine  by  the  arguments  which  you  urge  against 
each  other.  One  of  you  affirms,  that  there  is,  on  God's  part,  a 
plenitude  o^  power  for  the  salvation  of  all :  the  other,  that  there  is 
a  plenitude  of  disposition.  What,  then,  is  left  to  me  to  prove  % 
for  a  full  disposition  to  do  a  thing,  and  a  power  adequate  to  its 
performance,  implies  with  certainty  that  the  thing  shall  be  done. 
It  must  be  evident  to  your  candor,  gentlemen,  that  each  of  your 
systems,  taken  separately,  "  limits  the  Holy  One  of  Israel ;"  out 
of  both,  united,  a  theory  may  be  framed  which  will  well  harmo- 
nize with  the  divine  perfections.  Universalism,  in  my  judgment, 
is  that  theory. 

Arminian.  Nevertheless,  I  must  still  object  against  both 
yours  and  the  Calvinian  system,  that,  by  assuming  that  all  things 
are  the  result  of  divine  appointment,  they  make  God  the  author  of 
all  the  sin  in  the  universe  ! 

Author.    We  make  him  the  author  of  all  things,  indeed ;  so  do 


312  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

the  scriptures  ;  so  does  common  sense  ;  and  so,  I  may  add,  doea 
your  own  doctrine  also,  as  has  been  shown  before.  It  can  make 
no  actual  difference  between  us  in  this  respect  that  you  say,  God 
permits,  while  we  say,  he  appoints,  for  the  result  is  the  same  in 
both  cases.  I  have  a  tiger  chained  to  a  stake  ;  without  my  per- 
mission it  can  do  no  harm ;  there  is  a  group  of  lovely  children 
playing  near  by  ;  the  monster  is  glaring  at  them,  his  eyes  flash 
fire,  he  claws  the  ground,  and  gnashes  his  teeth  with  rage.  Shall 
I  permit  him  to  get  loose  among  them  1  It  is  done  ;  he  has  broke 
his  chain ;  he  has  bounded  into  their  midst :  merciful  heaven, 
what  a  scene  of  carnage  ensues  !  their  screams  pierce  my  soul ! 
My  conscience  accuses  me  of  the  deed,  but  I  am  guiltless  !  I  am 
guiltless  !   I  only  permitted  it. 

An  act  is  sinful  only  as  it  is  committed  with  a  sinful  design ; 
God's  designs,  like  himself,  are  infinitely  and  unchangeably  good, 
consequently,  he  cannot  sin  in  any  act  or  appointment  of  his, 
(however  much  suffering  may  be  involved  in  its  present  opera- 
tions,) because  not  only  is  such  act,  or  appointment,  designed  for 
ultimate  benefit  to  all  who  are  affected  by  it,  but  the  Being  who 
so  designed  has  power  sufficient  to  bring  such  benefit  to  pass. 

The  tiger  is  loose,  (by  which  I  would  personate  sin  and  mise- 
ry,) whether  by  appointment,  or  permission,  you  must  see  that  the 
divine  character  is  equally  concerned  in  the  event.  Shall  it  roam 
and  make  havoc  amongst  God's  offspring  forever  1  or  shall  it  be 
destroyed — the  wounds  it  has  inflicted  be  healed,  and  the  subjects 
of  its  violence  be  brought  to  see  and  experience,  that,  all  things 
considered,  it  was  better  for  them  to  have  suffered  from  its  fury 
for  a  time,  that  thereby  their  happiness  might  be  enhanced  for 
eternity  1  Your  creed  renders  an  affirmative  answer  to  the  former 
question — mine  to  the  latter.  And  now  tell  me,  candidly,  which 
answer  is  the  more  consonant  with  the  glory,  the  wisdom,  the 
benevolence  of  the  infinite  Creator  1  Put  your  hand  on  your  heart 
and  answer. 

To  the  question,  "  Why  do  you  write,  and  preach,  since,  as  all 
things  take  place  by  necessity,  you  cannot  alter  them?"  my  an- 
swer is,  I  can  alter  such  things  as  were  appointed  to  be  altered  by 
my  means.  As  before  observed,  when  ends  are  ordained,  the 
means  for  effecting  them  are  ordained  also ;  there  is  then  all  the 
use  for  means  upon  this  scheme,  as  upon  any  other. 


EVERLASTING,  FOREVER.  ETC.  313 

"  But  how  would  you  reply  to  a  criminal,"  (I  may  be  asked,) 
*'  who  should  plead,  that  as  it  was  foreappointed  to  him  to  com- 
mit the  deed,  he  ought  not  to  be  punished  for  it  V  I  would  answer 
him,  that  it  was  also  foreordained  that  he  should  suffer  for  the  act. 
It  was  certainly  foreordained  that  Judas  should  betray  the  Savior, 
and  also  that  he  should  experience  the  tvoe  pronounced  upon  him 
therefor. 

If  you  don't  like  this  view  of  things,  good  friend,  whoever  you 
be,  the  author  will  be  most  happy  to  have  you  refute  it :  show 
that  it  is  contrary  to  scripture  ;  contrary  to  experience,  to  fact ; 
and  bring  forward,  in  lieu  thereof,  a  scheme  which  shall  unite  the 
suffrages  of  all  these  in  its  favor  ;  which  shall  better  consist  with 
the  Omnipotence  and  sovereignty  of  the  great  Jehovah ;  and  not 
only  will  the  author  become  your  most  willing  convert,  but  he 
will  make  you,  into  the  bargain,  his  most  sincere  and  humble 
bow  of  thanks. 


EVERLASTING,  FOREVER,  &c. 

A  BRIEF  VIEW  OF  THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  THESE  TERMS. 

We  are  apt  to  forget,  in  this  branch  of  the  discussion,  that  the 
question  is  not  about  the  meaning  of  English  words ;  for  as  the 
bible  was  not  written  in  English,  the  meaning  of  terms  in  that 
language  can  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  settling  of  the 
inquiry  as  to  its  doctrines.  The  proper  question  before  us  is, 
What  is  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  words,  which  are 
rendered  everlasting,  eternal,  etc.,  in  our  version  of  the  scriptures  ? 
In  the  attempt  to  maintain  the  doctrine  of  endless  suffering,  it  has 
been  most  strenuously  contended,  that  the  radical  and  most  usual 
sense  of  these  words  is  unceasing  duration.  If,  however,  we 
attend  to  their  applications,  we  shall  have  reason  for  considering 
this  definition  extremely  questionable  :  they  are  applied  to  hills, 
and  mountains  ;  to  the  term  of  human  life  ;  to  the  Aaronic  priest- 
hood ;  to  the  Jewish  ordinances  ;  to  their  possession  of  the  holy 
land,  and  to  many  other  things  of  temporary  duration.     In  one 

Vol.  I.— 2  B  No.  14. 


314  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

instance,  forever  is  applied  lo  a  period  of  three  days.  (Jonah  ii.  6.) 
If  such  uses  of  terms  were  only  occasional,  if  they  occurred  but 
row  and  then,  and  after  long  intervals,  we  might  suppose  them 
employed  out  of  their  strict  and  ordinary  signification;  but 
such  is  far  from  the  fact ;  on  the  contrary,  their  application  to 
limited  periods  is  so  frequent,  that  the  best  critics  in  the  lan- 
guages have  defined  them  as  "  expressing  duration,  but  ivith  great 
variety.'''' 

That  they  are  frequently  used  to  express  eternity  is  granted, 
chiefly  as  applied  to  God  and  his  attributes ;  but  then,  it  must  be 
observed,  their  being  so  applied  is  no  evidence,  that  this  is  their 
radical  meaning,  for  we  also  find  days,  years,  and  ages,  similarly 
applied.  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  29  ;  Mic.  v.  2 ;  Ps.  cii.  24,  27  ;  Isa.  xxvi. 
4;  Ephe.  iii.  21.)  Yet  surely  none  will  hence  infer  that  these 
words,  apart  from  their  connexion,  imply  eternity,  although  as 
thus  applied  they  undeniably  do.  The  same  is  true  of  everlasting, 
forever,  etc.  :  when  the  subject  to  which  they  are  applied  is  in  its 
own  nature  eternal,  they  are  to  be  understood  as  expressing  that 
sense  ;  but  when  the  duration  of  the  subject  is  limited,  they  must 
be  understood  as  implying  but  a  limited  duration. 

Seemeth  it  at  all  probable,  reader,  that  if  the  radical  sense  of 
these  words  were  as  aflSrmed  by  the  doctors  of  endless  misery, 
Jehovah  would  have  employed  them  as  he  has  in  his  commands  to 
the  Jews  ]  He  surely  did  not  purpose  that  their  peculiar  religion 
should  be  of  perpetual  obligation  ;  yet  he  directed  that  the  priest- 
hood should  be  everlasting.  (Ex.  xl.  15.)  He  set  apart  the  house 
of  Aaron  to  this  o^ce  forever.  (Deut.  xviii.  5.)  He  gave  the  Jews 
the  land  of  Canaan  for  an  everlasting  possession.  (Gen.  xvii.  8; 
xlviii.  4.)  He  instituted  the  sabbath  as  a  sign  betwixt  him  and 
them  forever.  (Numb.  x.  8.)  The  atonement  was  to  be  an  ever- 
lasting statute.  (Lev.  xvi.  34.)  Their  ordinances  of  the  pass- 
over,  (Ex.  xii.  15.)  tabernable,  (Ibid.  xxxi.  17.)  and  circum- 
cision, (Deut.  xxviii.  46.)  were  to  last  forever.  And  the  same 
term,  in  its  duplicated  form,  is  applied  to  their  possession  of  the 
promised  land,/orei'er  and  ever.  (Jer.  vii.  7;  xxv.  5.)  Many  simi- 
lar texts  might  be  quoted,  in  which  these  terms  are  used  in  a  way 
greatly  to  have  deceived  the  Jews,  if  their  generally  received 
sense  had  been  unending  duration;  for  they  would  in  that  case 
naturally  have  inferred  that  their  institutions  were  to  continue 


EVERLASTING,  FOREVER,   ETC.  315 

without  end,  whereas  it  is  well  known  that  God  meant  it  but  as  a 
preparatory  dispensation,  to  be  succeeded  by  another  of  superior 
excellence  and  glory. 

In  Hawes'  Reasons  against  Universal  ism,  (published  by  the 
American  Tract  Society,)  it  is  affirmed  of  these  terms  that  they 
*'  invariably  imply  the  longest  duration  of  which  the  subject  to 
which  they  are  applied  is  capable.'^''  About  as  true,  this,  as  many 
other  statements  in  the  same  work.  Was  not  the  Jewish  sab- 
bath capable  of  being  continued  longer  than  it  was  "?  Was  Canaan 
incapable  of  being  possessed  by  them  to  the  end  of  time?  Was 
not  their  priesthood  capable  of  being  continued  indefinitely'? 
Could  not  Jehovah  have  secured  the  sacerdotal  office  to  the  family 
of  Phineas  (in  which  it  was  to  continue/orerer)  for  more  than  400 
years  ?  Was  the  fish  incapable  of  containing  Jonah  for  more  than 
three  days  ?  Truth  is,  that  the  declaration  falls  about  as  far  within 
the  range  of  truth,  as  does  Nova  Zembla  within  the  torrid  circle; 
if  I  had  faith  in  its  verity  I  should  turn  Jew  at  once. 

Let  us  suppose  a  person,  believing  in  endless  misery,  to  be 
sent  on  a  mission  to  a  colony  of  Jews,  for  the  purpose  of  convert- 
ing them  to  Christianity;  he  begins  by  acknowledging  their  reli- 
gion to  have  been  instituted  by  Jehovah,  and  to  have  continued 
in  force  for  nearly  fifteen  centuries,  but  it  at  length  (he  tells  them) 
gave  place  to  the  religion  of  Messiah,  "who  hath  changed  the 
customs  which  Moses  delivered,"  and  that  all  men  are  now  called 
upon,  under  a  penalty  of  eternal  damnation,  to  abjure  their  former 
faiths,  and  modes  of  worship,  and  become  the  subjects  of  the 
gospel  kingdom.  They  ask  him  what  he  understands  to  be  the 
radical  meaning  of  the  terms  everlasting,  ^nd  forever.  How,  now, 
shall  he  answer  them  1  If  he  say,  that  they  only  require  to  be 
understood  in  the  sense  of  endless,  when  the  subject  is  such  in  its 
nature,  he  will  be  conceding  to  universalism  all  it  asks  ;  he  will 
be  compromiting  the  main  reliance  of  the  dogma  of  endless  suf- 
fering. This  will  not  do.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  tell  them, 
with  Mr.  Hawes,  that  they  invariably  imply  the  longest  duration 
of  which  the  subject  to  which  they  are  applied  is  capable,  he  will 
subject  himself  to  their  scorn.  "  What !"  they  will  exclaim, 
"call  you  upon  us  to  abjure  the  religion  of  our  fathers,  in  favor 
of  an  upstart  system  which  originated  fifteen  hundred  centuries 
later,  when  by  your  own  acknowledgement  we  are  commanded  to 


316  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

retain  the  former  for  as  long  as  it  is  capable  of  being  observed  ; 
for  our  statutes,  and  ordinances,  and  priesthood,  were  all  to  be 
everlasting,  forever,  etc.,  and  these  imply  the  longest  duration  of 
which  the  subject  is  capable  !  Why,  sir,  since  you  acknowledge 
the  divinity  of  our  scriptures,  it  becometh  you  rather  to  turn  Jew, 
than  to  call  upon  us  to  become  christians  !"  Our  missionary 
would  find  himself  in  a  sad  quandary  here. 

It  may  be  said,  however,  that  as  the  immortal  state  is  more 
distinctly  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  than  in  the  Old,  the 
terms  rendered  forever,  etc.,  may  be  used  in  the  former  in  a  more 
definite  and  uniform  sense.  We  will  see  how  this  is.  The  pri- 
mary word  in  the  Hebrew  is  oulem,  in  the  Greek  it  is  aion  ,-  the 
authors  of  the  Septuagint  have  uniformly  employed  the  latter,  in 
rendering  the  former,  which  shows  that  in  their  judgment  these 
terms  are  of  similar  signification  ;  and  vi'ho  so  capable  of  judging 
as  they,  who  were  conversant  with  both  languages  as  spoken  1 
Truth  is,  that  aion,  by  the  consent  of  the  most  eminent  linguists, 
is  of  as  uncertain  signification  as  oulem.  Alexander  Campbell 
says,  "  its  radical  idea  is  indefinite  duration.''''  We  need  only  to 
remark  its  various  applications  in  the  New  Testament,  to  be 
convinced  of  this. 

It  is  true  that  Dr.  Clarke  says  in  one  place,  that  it  is  the 
strongest  word  that  could  have  been  employed  for  expressing  the 
eternity  of  punishment ;  and  his  judgment  would  have  been  enti- 
tled to  respect,  high  respect,  were  it  not  nullified  by  what  him- 
self has  said,  of  the  same  term  in  other  places,  as  well  as  by  the 
fact  of  its  frequent  application  to  periods  of  time.  Eternity  never 
had  a  beginning,  but  the  beginning  of  aion  is  alluded  to  in  five 
different  passages.  (Luke  i.  70;  John  ix.  32;  Actsiii.  21 ;  xv.  18; 
Ephe.  iii.  9.)  Eternity  can  have  no  end,  whereas  the  end  of  aion 
is  spoken  of  in  several  places.  (1  Cor.  x.  11  ;  Heb.  ix.  26;  and 
live  times  in  Matthew.)  There  can  be  but  one  eternity,  but  the 
scriptures  mention  a  plurality  of  aion''s.  (Tim.  i.  17;  Ephe.  iii. 
17;  Col.  i.  25.)  It  is  absurd  to  speak  of  this  eternity,  in  dis- 
tinction from  a  future  eternity  ;  but  the  scriptures  speak  of  this 
aion,  and  the  aion  to  come,  in  several  instances.  (Matt.  xii.  32  ; 
Mark  x.  30  ;  Luke  xviii.  30 ;  Gal.  i.  4  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  10.  etc. ;  to 
come,  Matt.  xiii.  32  ;  Heb.  vi.  5.)  And  yet  aion  is  the  strongest 
term  that  could  have  been  used  to  express  endless  misery  !    Tho 


EVERLASTING,  FOREVER,  ETC.  317 

doctor's  creed  was  sadly  in  the  way  of  his  candor  when  he 
penned  this  affirmation. 

That  the  scriptures  do  employ  stronger  terms  for  expressing  the 
duration  of  the  future  life,  of  the  glory  of  heaven,  and  the  risen 
nature  of  man,  is  past  denial ;  they  inform  us  that  our  being  in 
the  resurrection  shall  be  one  of  incorrupt  ion,  of  immortality,  of 
glory:  we  shall  die  no  more;  Christ  was  made,  (they  say,) 
*'  after  the  power  of  an  endless  life."  And  Christ  has  said,  "  Be- 
cause I  live,  ye  shall  live  also  ;"  as  therefore  his  life  is  endless^ 
the  reason  for  our  life  will  be  endless  also.  Could  the  scriptures 
not  have  guarantied  the  eternity  of  torments  by  some  such 
expressions'?  That  they  could  must  be  admitted,  and  that  they 
have  not  is  evidence  that  this  doctrine  was  not  designed  to  be 
taught  therein. 

From  the  writings  and  preaching  of  some,  one  would  think  that 
the  passages  which  connect  the  words  everlasting  and  forever 
with  punishment,  constituted  a  principal  part  of  the  sacred  wri- 
tings, whereas  the  case  is  so  much  otherwise,  that  there  are  but 
two  passages  in  the  whole  of  the  Old  Testament  where  these 
terms  occur  in  such  connexion  ;  not  at  all  in  the  gospels  of  Luke, 
and  John  ;  but  once  in  Mark  ;  not  at  all  in  the  Acts  of  the  apos- 
tles, although  several  extracts  from  their  preaching  are  therein 
contained  ;  but  once  in  all  Paul's  epistles,  which  form  so  consi- 
derable part  of  the  New  Testament ;  not  at  all  in  the  epistles  of 
Peter,  James,  and  John ;  so  that  all  the  instances  together  would 
not  make  so  many  as  may  often  be  found  in  a  six-penny  printed 
sermon,  or  even  a  farthing  tract.  Nevertheless,  if  found  but  once 
in  the  bible,  in  a  sense  corresponding  to  our  English  word  endless^ 
it  would  be  sufficient  to  authorize  the  classing  of  that  sentiment 
among  the  doctrines  of  inspiration. 

Still  it  must  be  confessed,  in  that  case,  that  the  bible  would 
stand  most  grossly  self-contradicted  ;  for  who  could  then  affirm 
that  the  wrath  of  Jehovah  is  not  as  enduring  as  his  mercy  ?  whereas 
the  bible,  over  and  over  again,  represents  the  former  as  but  mo- 
mentary, and  the  latter  as  enduring  forever  !  Who  could  affirm, 
too,  that  the  Lord  will  not  always  chide,  be  always  wroth,  nor 
contend,  nor  cast  off,  forever  ]  But  the  bible  does  so  affirm  !  Who 
could  say  that  God  loves  his  enemies,  overcomes  evil  with  good, 
and  is  without  variableness  or  shadow  of  turning  ]    And  who 

Vol,  L— 2  b  2 


318  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

could  say  that  he  is  good  to  all,  and  that  his  tender  mercy  is  over 
all  his  works  1  Yet  the  scriptures  do  thus  represent  him  !  Such 
are  the  contradictions  in  which  the  bible  must  be  involved  if  we 
allow  to  the  words  everlasting,  forever,  etc.,  an  unlimited  signiSt- 
cation,  as  they  are  applied  to  punishment. 

"  But  why,"  I  may  be  asked,  "  do  you  take  these  terms  in  the 
sense  of  endless,  when  they  are  connected  with  promises  of  this 
kind,  and  reject  such  sense  when  they  are  connected  with  threat- 
enings  T'  I  only  so  accept  these  words,  reader,  when  the  nature 
of  the  subject  evidently  so  requires.  How,  for  example,  can  we 
possibly  limit  their  signification  in  the  above  quoted  promises  ? 
"  The  Lord  will  not  cast  off  forever" — "  will  not  always  chide" — 
"heretaineth  not  his  anger /orez?er" — "  I  will  not  contend /w- 
ever,  neither  will  I  be  always  wroth,"  etc. ;  suppose  we  make 
forever,  and  always,  in  these  texts,  to  mean  a  limited  period,  they 
will  then  read,  that  the  Lord  will  not  cast  off,  nor  contend,  for  a 
limited  period  !  But  this  is  contrary  to  fact.  There  is,  then,  an 
evident  necessity  for  understanding  everlasting,  and  forever,  in 
promises  of  this  nature,  in  an  unlimited  sense;  whereas,  if  we  so 
understand  them  as  connected  with  threatenings,  we  shall  have 
the  scriptures  involved  (as  before  shown)  in  most  manifest  self- 
contradiction. 

Let  us  take  a  particular  case,  in  which  a  contradiction  seems  to 
be  clearly  involved.  David,  toward  the  close  of  his  life,  admon- 
ished Solomon  in  the  following  words  .•  "  And  thou,  Solomon  my 
son,  know  thou  the  God  of  thy  father,  and  serve  him  with  a 
perfect  heart,  and  with  a  willing  mind  ;  for  the  Lord  searcheth  all 
hearts,  and  understandeth  all  the  imaginations  of  the  thoughts: 
if  thou  seek  him,  he  will  be  found  of  thee;  but  if  thou  forsake 
him,  he  will  cast  thee  off  forever.'^''  (1  Chron.  xxviii.  9.)  How  shall 
this  closing  declaration  be  reconciled  with  the  declaration  in 
Lamentations  ?  "  For  the  Lord  WILL  NOT  cast  off  forever ;"  for 
the  latter  is  not  special  in  its  application,  it  belongs  to  no  particu- 
lar time,  nor  people,  but  is  general  and  absolute.  How  then  shall 
we  reconcile  these  texts'?  It  can  only  be  done  by  maintaining  that 
David  could  not,  hy  forever,  have  intended  to  all  eternity  ;  and  that 
he  did  not  is  clear  from  the  fact,  that  he  himself  has  furnished  us 
with  the  declaration  of  Jehovah,  that  he  would  not,  in  any  case» 
utterly  abandon  any  of  his  children.     "  If  his  children  forsake  my 


EVERLASTING,  FOREVER,  ETC.  319 

iaw,  and  walk  not  in  my  judgments ;  if  they  break  my  statutes, 
and  keep  not  my  command^nents  ;  then  will  I  visit  their  transgres- 
sion with  the  rod,  and  their  iniquity  with  stripes.  Nevertheless, 
my  loving-kindness  will  I  not  utterly  take  from  him,  nor  suffer  my 
faithfulness  to  fail."  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  30 — 33.)  We  must  not,  then, 
if  we  would  avoid  arraying  scripture  against  scripture,  understand 
David  as  threatening  Solomon  with  an  event,  which  God  had 
solemnly  swore  to  him  should  in  no  case  come  to  pass. 

If  the  inspired  writers  designed  to  teach  the  notion  of  ceaseless 
suffering,  it  is  strange,  as  there  unquestionably  are  words  in  both 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  tongues,  which  could  be  combined  to  ex- 
press that  idea  in  an  unequivocal  manner ;  it  is  strange,  I  say,  that 
they  have  in  no  instance  employed  such  words  for  the  purpose  ! 
Mahomet  has  found  words  for  very  clearly  teaching  this  doctrine, 
in  his  Alcoran  ;  and  it  is  also  very  unequivocally  expressed  in  the 
Book  of  Mormon :  some  of  the  old  christian  writers  have  also 
clearly  enough  expressed  it.  None  will  deny  that  it  is  lucidly  set 
forth  in  modern  creeds ;  and  in  fulminations  from  the  popular 
pulpit,  God  knows  it  is  dealt  out  with  sufficient  intelligibility. 
The  inspired  writers  alone,  it  would  seem,  knew  not  how  to  ex- 
press it  in  a  way  to  be  understood  !  or  they  did  not  try — which 
is  the  more  likely  ? 

Unending  misery  !  Who  ever  conceived  the  import  of  that  ex- 
pression? Eternal  suflfering  !  Suppose  the  sun  (a  million  limes 
as  large  as  our  earth)  to  be  a  globe  of  fire — suppose  a  spark  to  be 
stricken  therefrom  and  extinguished  every  millionth  year,  the 
period  would  arrive  at  length,  when  all  those  millions  of  years 
would  have  elapsed,  and  the  last  spark  of  the  sun  would  be 
quenched  ;  but  eternity  would  be  as  little  exhausted,  as  when  the 
process  of  extinction  commenced  !  Take  a  parchment,  as  broad  as 
the  space  conceived  to  be  occupied  by  creation,  on  all  its  surface 
write  millions,  billions,  trillions,  quadrillions,  etc.,  making  every 
succeeding  number  to  exceed  the  one  before  it ;  then  add  all  these 
together,  multiply  the  aggregated  sum  by  another  of  equal  amount, 
and  let  each  unit  in  this  vast  sum  represent  a  myriad  of  ages — 
what  would  all  these  be  to  eternity  1  As  the  minutest  atom  to  the 
whole  universe ! 

And  in  all  this  time  will  not  the  anger  of  Jehovah  abate  ?  Will 
these  ages  upon  ages  of  suffering  not  suffice  to  appease  his  wrath, 


320  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

or  to  mollify  his  resentment  1  No,  no,  no  ;  suns,  particle  after  par- 
ticle, millions  of  years  intervening,  may  be  put  out  forever;  ages 
on  ages,  beyond  the  power  of  numbers  to  compute,  may  roll  away 
into  the  unbeginning  past;  each  planetary  member  of  our  solar 
system,  of  all  the  systems  composing  the  universe,  may  moulder 
with  the  slow  decay  of  an  atom  to  every  myriad  of  centuries,  but 
the  ire  of  Omnipotence  shall  never,  never,  never,  never  know 
ought  of  diminution  !  He  whose  command  to  us  is,  "  Let  not 
the  sun  go  down  upon  your  wrath,"  will,  nevertheless,  cherish 
toward  us  a  wrath  as  unextinguishable  as  his  own  essence  !  And 
what  are  we,  upon  whom  his  almighty  energies  will  be  thus 
avengingly  poured  down?  What?  The  minutest  animalcule 
which  the  microscope  brings  within  the  reach  of  vision,  bears  the 
same  proportion  to  immensity  that  we  bear  to  him  ! 

And  will  no  considerations  avail,  such  as  his  relations  to  us 
as  Creator,  and  Father — his  having  brought  us  into  existence 
without  our  consent — the  exceeding  shortness  of  our  earthly 
probation — the  feebleness  of  our  faculties  of  understanding  and 
judgment — the  dimness  and  uncertainty  amidst  which  the  paths 
of  truth  lie  hidden  from  our  perceptions — the  many  passions,  ap- 
petites, anxieties,  interests,  and  duties,  aside  from  the  business  of 
our  soul's  salvation,  which  pressed  upon  our  attention,  and  left 
us  but  small  time  for  concern  about  our  eternal  affairs — will  not 
these  considerations,  I  say,  when  pleaded  from  the  depths  of  our 
misery  in  hell,  avail  us  by  softening  him  into  compassion  1  No, 
no,  "  God  is  love  ,•"  no,  no,  "  he  is  kind  to  the  unthankful  and  to 
the  evil  ,•"  no,  no,  he  "  is  good  unto  all,  and  his  tender  mercy  is 
over  all  his  works  ,•"  no,  no,  he  loves  his  enemies ;  no,  no,  he 
"  will  not  cast  off  forever  ,•"  no,  no,  he  "  is  merciful  and  gracious''^ — 
**full  of  compassion'^ — "  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth,^^  etc., 
therefore  his  anger  shall  endure  to  eternity,  and  the  misery  of  his 
guilty  offspring  shall  have  no  end  ! !  ! 


LAKE  OF  FIRE,  AND  SECOND  DEATH.  321 


LAKE  OF  FIRE,  AND  SECOND  DEATH. 

These  expressions  occur  in  the  book  of  Revelation  only.  I 
introduce  them  here,  not  because  I  have  the  vanity  to  suppose 
that  I  can  furnish  the  true  key  to  their  meaning,  for  I  pretend 
not  to  be  able  to  do  this  with  certainty,  but  because  they  are 
usually  urged  against  the  universalist  faith  with  the  more  vehe- 
mence, and  positiveness,  as,  of  all  the  other  parts  of  scripture, 
they  are  least  understood.  I  can  speak  to  the  negative  point  of 
what  they  do  not  mean,  with  more  confidence  than  to  the  positive 
of  what  they  do. 

That  the  lake  of  fire  cannot  refer  to  a  place  or  mode  of  suffering 
in  another  life,  is  evident  from  the  nature  of  some  of  the  things 
subjected  to  its  operation ;  these  are  death,  hades,  the  beast,  and 
the  false  prophet.  The  first  three  of  these,  it  can  scarcely  be 
supposed,  are  suitable  subjects  for  endless  suflTering !  Death  is  a 
mere  negation — the  absence  of  life;  hades  is  the  separate  state; 
the  beast  personates  the  corrupters  and  opposers  of  Christianity,  or 
a  corrupt  hierarchy,  some  say  Jewish,  some  Pagan,  some  Romish 
christian,  and  some  (the  Romanists)  the  pseudo  reformed  chris- 
tian ;  it  may  mean  either  of  these,  or  the  Lord  knows  what. 
Whatever  it  means,  however,  it  is  represented,  together  with  the 
false  prophet,  as  having  been  "  cast  alive  into  a  lake  of  fire,  burn- 
ing with  brimstone,"  from  which,  if  the  lake  of  fire  mean  hell, 
we  must  infer  that  they  were  consigned  bodily,  in  flesh  and  blood, 
to  its  sulphurous  flames  ! 

It  is  equally  evident  that  the  second  death  cannot  signify  an 
endless  death,  (as  some  assume,)  because  the  inspired  testimony 
is  full  and  clear  to  the  point,  that  death  is  to  be  destroyed,  swal- 
lowed up  in  victory,  be  no  more,  etc.,  which  may  imply  any  thing 
rather  than  that  it  shall  endure,  and  triumph  over  millions  of  Jeho- 
vah's offspring,  to  all  eternity  ! 

Touching  the  meaning  of  Revelation  there  is  a  great  diversity 
of  judgment  among  critics.  They  are  also  much  divided  as  to  the 
period  at  which  it  was  written — some  placing  it  before,  some 
after,  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem :  to  my  mind  the  probabilities 
seem  decidedly  to  favor  the  former  position ;   and  I  also  think 


322  PRO  AND  CON  or  UNI\^RSALISM. 

that  the  book  chiefly  relates  to  that  catastrophe,  and  to  the  various 
circumstances  attendant  on  the  introduction  of  the  christian  insti- 
tution. I  have,  as  I  think,  very  substantial  reasons  in  the  book 
itself  for  this  opinion.  In  the  introduction  thereto  it  professes  to 
disclose  things  that  were  "  shortly  to  come  to  pass,"  and  for  which 
it  even  says,  "  the  time  is  at  hand."  (i.  1,  2.)  And  that  the  judg- 
ments threatened  through  the  book  were  to  have  an  immediate 
(and  not  a  remote)  fulfilment,  seems  evidently  to  be  implied  in 
the  closing  declarations  : — "  Surely  I  come  quickly  ,•"  (xxii.  20.) 
"  Behold,  7  come  quickly  ;  and  my  reward  is  with  me,  to  give 
every  man  according  as  his  work  shall  be."  (xxii.  12.)  It  seems 
too  that  the  city  and  temple  of  Jerusalem  must  have  been  yet 
standing,  not  only  from  their  being  referred  to  in  several  indirect 
forms,  but  from  the  additional  fact,  that  John  is  directed  by  the 
angel  to  measure  the  temple.  "  And  there  was  given  me  a  reed 
like  unto  a  rod  :  and  the  angel  stood,  saying.  Rise,  and  measure 
the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar,  and  them  that  worship  therein. 
But  the  court  which  is  without  the  temple  leave  out,  and  measure 
it  not;  for  it  is  given  unto  the  Gentiles :  and  the  holy  city  shall 
they  tread  under  foot  forty  and  two  months."  (xi.  1 , 2.)  Moreover, 
I  have  (in  the  article  on  a  general  judgment)  shown  reasons  for 
identifying  the  judgment  so  sublimely  described  in  chapter  xx., 
with  that  of  which  Daniel  spake  in  a  strain  of  equal  grandeur, 
(Dan.  vii.  9.)  which  is  regarded  by  both  Bishop,  and  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  and  other  eminent  expositors,  as  portending  the  momen- 
tous events  which  should  attend  the  destruction  of  the  Mosaic 
economy,  and  the  setting  up  of  Messiah's  kingdom. 

By  keeping  these  things  in  mind,  we  need  be  at  no  very  great 
loss  for  the  understanding  of  the  phrases  at  the  head  of  this  arti- 
cle ;  we  can  at  least  attain  a  high  degree  of  probability  in  regard 
to  it.  As  to  the  lake  of  Jire^  we  often  find  that  very  figure  em- 
ployed in  the  descriptions  of  the  judgment  at  the  end  of  that 
world  {aion,  or  age)\  Malachi  calls  the  period  thereof  "  the  day  that 
shall  burn  as  an  oven."  (iv.  1.)  Christ  said,  that  at  the  end  of 
that  world,  (or  age,)  the  tares  should  be  cast  into  the  furnace  of 
fire.  (Matt.  xiii.  40.)  God  expressly  says  he  will  gather  the 
Jews  into  the  midst  of  Jerusalem,  and  melt  them  as  silver  is 
melted  in  a  furnace.  (Ezek.  xxii.  18,  22.)  And  it  is  said  that 
the  Lord's  "  fire  is  in  Zion,  and  his  furnace  in  Jerusalem."  (Isa^ 


LAKE  OF  FIRE,  AND  SECOND  DEATH.  323 

xxxi.  9.)  This,  indeed,  was  a  figure  to  which  those  whom  Christ 
and  his  apostles  addressed  were  well  accustomed.  In  Revelation, 
ihe  lake  of  fire  is  represented  as  an  agent  in  destroying,  as  well  as 
punishing.  Death,  hades,  the  beast,  etc.,  are  not  subjects  of  pun- 
ishment; the  destruction  of  the  two  former,  at  the  time  of  the 
introduction  of  the  gospel  institution,  must  imply,  I  think,  that 
the  fundamental  and  most  glorious  feature  in  that  gospel,  viz., 
the  doctrine  of  immortality,  would  effectually  and  forever  dispel, 
in  the  minds  of  believers,  all  fears  and  anxieties  on  the  subject  of 
death,  and  the  state  beyond  it ;  and  that  it  would  also  carry  their 
minds  forward  in  anticipation  to  the  final  extinction  of  these  and 
all  other  foes  to  human  happiness. 

The  second  death  is  also  used  in  reference  both  to  the  punishment 
of  sentient  beings,  and  the  destruction  of  insentient  things.  After 
the  stating,  that  all  liars,  adulterers,  the  unbelieving  and  abomi- 
nable, etc.,  were  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  it  is  added, 
"  this  is  the  second  death  :"  here  the  phrase  must  imply  a  process 
of  punishment.  Again,  after  telling  that  death  and  hell  were 
cast  into  the  lake  of  fire,  the  revelator  adds,  "  this  is  the  second 
death  :"  it  here,  unquestionably,  implies  an  utter  destruction, 
for,  as  stated  before,  death  and  hades  cannot  be  subjects  of  suflfer- 
ing ;  and,  therefore,  in  this  instance  the  lake  of  fire  cannot  signify 
a  place  of  punishment,  or  of  misery  :  it  were  the  height  of  ab- 
surdity to  speak  of  casting  insentient  things  into  misery  ;  their 
being  cast  into  a  lake  of  fire  can  only  intimate  their  destruction. 

*'  But  why  may  it  not  mean  an  utter  destruction  in  both  cases  1" 
I  may  be  asked.  Because,  I  reply,  its  application  in  other 
places  is  such  as  clearly  to  discountenance  such  construction. 
•'  He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death."  (ii. 
11.)  From  this  it  is  plain  that  the  punishment  denominated  the 
second  death,  was  one  involving  joaen,  and  not  destruction.  More- 
over, it  is  said  of  those  who  had  part  in  the  first  resurrection,  "  on 
such  the  second  death  hath  no  power."  (xx.  6.)  These  are  the 
overcomers  who  should  not  be  hurt  of  it :  whereas,  the  fearful, 
the  unbelieving,  etc.,  should  be  subjected  to  its  full  power;  the 
smoke  of  their  torment  should  ascend  "c?ay  and  night,  forever  and 
ever."  Hence,  the  phrase  implies  suffering,  not  extinction  of 
being;  it  implies,  I  may  add,  temporal,  or  timely  suffering,  where 
there  is  an  alternation  of  day  and  night. 


324  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

In  the  close  of  the  book,  the  gospel  institution  is  spoken  of 
under  the  figure  of  a  city — a  holy  city  coming  down  from  God  out 
of  heaven  i  into  this  pure  and  happy  place  none  are  admitted  but 
such  as  are  pure  in  character :  "  there  shall  in  nowise  enter  into 
it  anything  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomination, 
or  maketh  a  lie,  but  they  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of 
life :"  the  gates  thereof  are  never  to  be  closed,  inasmuch  as  at  all 
times  it  is  to  be  accessible  to  all,  upon  their  faith  and  reforma- 
tion. In  it  is  no  darkness,  nor  sin,  nor  death,  nor  sorrow  ;  old 
things  are  there  done  away,  and  all  things  are  new.  This  highly 
colored  description  of  the  gospel  state  on  earth  has  been  often 
supposed  to  refer  to  a  time  called  Millennium,  when  Christ  shall 
literally  descend,  and  live  with  his  saints  on  this  terrestrial  globe 
for  a  thousand  years  :  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  so  extravagant 
a  supposition ;  any  one  who  has  familiarized  himself  with  the 
poetic  style  of  the  sacred  penmen,  will  easily  believe  that  nothing 
more  is  intended  in  this  beautiful  vision,  than  the  setting  up  of 
the  kingdom  or  church  of  Messiah  in  the  world  ;  the  joy,  and 
hope,  and  purity,  and  peace,  which  are  the  lot  of  its  subjects,  and 
the  prospects  it  would  afford  to  all  believers,  of  a  final  and  glo- 
rious issue  from  the  sorrows,  and  death,  and  guilt,  of  this  earthly 
state,  in  the  unending  felicity  and  immortality  of  heaven. 

The  Savior  never  intimated,  at  any  time,  in  any  of  his  several 
discourses  with  his  apostles,  that  he  was  to  come  in  latter  times, 
and  establish  a  civil  dynasty  in  this  world  ;  he  would  certainly 
not  have  left  a  matter  of  this  consequence  unrevealed  :  we  never 
find  it  referred  to  in  any  of  the  apostolic  epistles,  which  it  unques- 
tionably would  have  been  if  it  were  to  take  place.  It  seems  to 
me  a  weakness,  a  puerility,  to  base  a  doctrine  of  such  magnitude 
upon  a  passage  or  two  in  a  book,  which  is  avowedly  the  least 
understood  of  all  the  sacred  writings !  It  is  admitted  that  Christ 
has  now  a  spiritual  kingdom  on  earth — it  is  admitted  that  he  is 
present,  in  doctrine  and  spirit,  in  this  kingdom — it  is  admitted 
that  this  divine  dynasty  is  extending  its  conquests  over  the  globe, 
dispelling  sin,  and  darkness,  and  despair,  and  imparting  holiness, 
and  light,  and  hope — it  is  admitted,  moreover,  that  in  the  light  of 
this  kingdom,  death  and  hades  lose  their  blighting  influence  over 
the  mind  of  man,  and  a  clear  end,  and  glorious  issue,  are  seen  to 
all  the  evils  which  now  infest  the  world.     What  more  is  needed, 


AN  IMPORTANT  QUESTION  CONSIDERED.  325 

then,  to  meet  the  just  and  sober  expectations  which  (making  due 
allowance  for  the  poetic  coloring  employed  in  this  enigmatical 
part  of  the  sacred  oracles)  arise  out  of  what  is  said  by  the  revela- 
tor,  about  the  thousand  years'  reign  of  Messiah  on  the  earth  1 
Candor  replies — nothing. 

Reader,  I  am  greatly  averse  to  dogmatizing,  and  will  not 
pretend,  therefore,  that  I  have  infallibly  unfolded  the  true  signifi- 
cance of  the  parts  of  this  mystical  book  which  I  have  touched 
upon ;  but  this  I  will  affirm,  that  I  have  given  you  my  own  views 
with  all  candor,  and  that  I  have  formed  those  views  with  the 
utmost  care,  and  without  implicitly  following  the  steps  of  any  of 
the  numerous  expositors  thereof,  and  consequently  I  shall  not  ask 
you  implicitly  to  follow  mine. 


AN  IMPORTANT  QUESTION  CONSIDERED. 

I  have  several  times  anticipated  the  question,  whether  the  Cre- 
ator could  not  have  accomplished  all  his  proposed  ends  of  benevo- 
lence, without  subjecting  us  to  those  preliminary  sufferings  which 
form  so  considerable  a  part  of  our  present  allotment  ?  "  Was  it 
not,"  we  are  frequently  asked,  "  equally  possible  for  him  to  have 
made  us  perfectly  happy  at  once  1  and  if  so,  must  he  not  be  want- 
ing in  goodness  not  to  have  done  so  V  Ii  is  not  for  us  to  say 
what  the  Almighty  could  or  could  not  have  done,  in  this  case ; 
it  seems  probable,  however,  that  with  every  degree  of  imperfec- 
tion in  being,  there  must  necessarily  be  a  corresponding  degree  of 
imperfection  in  happiness  :  himself  alone  is  infinitely  perfect  in 
nature,  and,  consequently,  himself  alone  is  infinitely  perfect  in 
felicity.  If  he  could  have  made  us  as  perfect,  he  could  also  have 
made  us  as  happy,  as  himself:  but  then  we  could  have  known  no 
progression  in  happiness  ;  we  could  not  have  passed  from  this 
state  to  a  better,  from  that  to  a  better  still,  and  so  on,  ad  infini- 
tum, as  seems  to  be  our  destination  under  the  present  order  of 
things.  This  is  one  view  of  the  case  which  tolerably  well  solves 
the  enigma  of  the  existence  of  suffering,  under  the  government  of 
infinite  love :  but  there  is  another. 

Vol.  I.— 3  C 


326  PRO  AND  CON  OF  TJNIVERSALISM. 

We  frequently  hear  the  remark,  that  all  our  happiness  is  com" 
parattve,  or  that  it  arises  from  contrast — that  we  could  not  enjoy 
food  if  we  never  experienced  hunger — nor  drink,  if  we  never  knew 
thirst — nor  rest,  if  we  were  strangers  to  fatigue,  etc.  This  is  a 
mistake,  however  ;  all  our  pleasure  is  not  relative,  although  much 
unquestionably  is  ;  but  our  senses  are  so  contrived  as  to  be  media 
of  positive  enjoyment  to  us.  It  is  not  essential  to  our  appreciating 
the  fragrance  of  the  rose  or  violet,  that  we  previously  respire  the 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  arising  from  foeted  house-drains  :  the  infant, 
it  may  be  presumed,  without  previous  experience,  enjoys  the  food 
with  which  nature  has  so  kindly  furnished  the  mother  for  its  sus- 
tenance. No,  all  our  happiness  does  not  result  from  contrast ;  yet 
who  can  doubt  that  it  is  incalculably  increased  thereby  1  A  man 
who  is  born  to  affluence — whose  whole  existence  has  been  spent  in 
all  the  enjoyments  which  wealth  could  supply — who  has  never 
known  the  fatigues  of  labor,  nor  the  gnawings  of  want — has  but 
small  zest  for  the  pleasures  which  offer  themselves  ready  culled 
to  his  hand  ;  but  he  becomes  sick  of  satiety,  and  a  prey  to  that 
stagnation  of  soul  proceeding  from  the  want  of  an  object  to  engage 
its  energies.  But  conceive  a  poor  man,  accustomed  from  his 
birth  to  severe  drudgery,  and  the  coarsest  fare:  or  conceive  the 
pampered  son  of  wealth  first  supposed — let  him  be  cast  by  accident 
upon  an  inhospitable  coast — he  must  needs  traverse  a  savage  de- 
sert ere  he  can  reach  the  abodes  of  civilized  life — days  and  nights 
of  want  and  suffering  elapse  during  his  toilsome  journey — hunger, 
and  thirst,  and  weariness,  and  burning  heat,  and  dangers  innume- 
rable ; — he  reaches  the  goal  at  length,  is  kindly  received,  furnished 
with  all  the  luxuries  of  tropical  existence — delightful  groves  over- 
shadow him — breezes  laden  with  aromatic  incense  fan  his  frame — 
the  melody  of  birds  regale  his  ear — and  all  that  appetite — all  that 
fancy  can  crave,  is  subject  to  his  wish.  Is  argument  needed, 
reader,  to  convince  you  that  our  traveler  enjoys  these  luxuries 
with  a  more  intense  delight  than,  before  he  tasted  of  adversity,  he 
ever  experienced  1 

That  our  enjoyment  is  incalculably  enhanced  by  contrast,  then, 
s  past  denial,  and  we  hence  obtain  an  idea  of  the  probable  use 
of  our  present  suffering ;  the  bliss  of  eternity  may  be  the  more 
exquisite  for  the  tears  of  time,  and  the  happiness  of  each  succeed- 
ing stage  of  our  existence  may  be  heightened  by  the  deficiencies 


AN  IMPORTANT  QUESTION  CONSIDERED.  327 

of  the  stage  preceding  it ;  for  I  am  far  from  thinking  that  we 
shall  arrive  at  once,  on  our  reaching  heaven,  at  the  acme  of  feli- 
city, but  we  shall  be  progressing  toward  it,  to  eternity.  From 
this  reasoning,  it  seems  probable  that  the  bliss  of  an  infant  spirit 
(which  has  had  little  or  no  experience  of  suffering)  is  not  so 
great  on  its  first  arrival  in  the  abodes  of  bliss,  as  is  that  of  the 
adult  who  has  reached  the  haven  after  long  struggling  against  the 
winds  and  tides  of  time. 

By  those  who  suppose  our  first  parents  to  have  been  placed  in 
a  condition  of  perfect  happiness  before  their  fall,  their  case  may 
seem  a  refutation  of  this  theory  concerning  the  utility  of  sufl^ering; 
but  I  do  not  admit  the  premises.  If  the  first  pair  had  been  com- 
pletely happy  ere  they  sinned,  they  could  not  have  been  tempted 
as  they  were ;  the  very  manner  of  the  temptation  proves  their 
felicity  to  have  been  incomplete  ;  their  appetite  coveted  the  inter- 
dicted fruit ;  this  implied  want,  which  they  were  forbidden  to 
gratify,  and  ungratified  want  (however  unreasonable  that  want  in 
itself)  is  one  of  the  ordinary  elements  of  misery.  They  desired, 
too,  to  he  as  Gods,  knowing  good  and  evil,  which  clearly  implied  a 
discontent  with  the  lot  assigned  them  ;  they  aspired  to  a  higher 
sphere,  and  this  is  the  essence  of  ambition.  They  experienced 
also  a  hunger  of  intellect,  a  desire  to  know  good  and  evil,  and  this 
knowledge  they  supposed  the  tree  would  impart.  It  is  therefore 
exceedingly  clear  that  they  were  not  absolutely  happy,  although 
more  happy,  undoubtedly,  than  subsequent  to  their  fall. 

"  What  can  we  reason,  but  from  what  we  know  ?"  the  poet 
asks  ;  and  from  all  that  we  can  know  at  present  the  probabilities 
seem  decidedly  against  the  supposition,  that  it  is  possible  for  Je- 
hovah to  create  sentient  creatures,  who,  from  the  commencement 
of  their  existence,  shall  be  in  possession  of  absolute  and  unmixed 
felicity ;  it  seems  a  fair  presumption,  that,  were  it  possible,  his 
infinite  goodness  would  have  so  created  and  circumstanced  their's, 
that  to  all  eternity,  all  creatures  should  be  utter  strangers  to  want, 
or  pain,  or  to  any  thing  which  would  render  their  happiness  incom- 
plete ;  for  benevolence  cannot  approve  of  misery  for  its  own  sake, 
although  for  the  end''s  sake  it  may  ;  and  if  misery  be  not  absolutely 
indispensable  to  the  end,  it  cannot  approve  it  at  all,  for  the  plain 
reason  that  it  must  always  prefer  to  eflfect  the  best  ends  by  the  best 
mmns,, 


328  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

Behold,  then,  fellow  mortals,  the  use  of  the  sufferings  of  which 
you  at  present  complain  !  Let  your  souls  be  bowed  in  adoration 
and  love  before  the  throne  of  your  Almighty  Father,  who  permit- 
teth  no  evil  to  come  upon  you  but  such  as  he  sees  will  turn  out 
for  your  greatest  good  in  the  end. 

"  God  nothing  does,  nor  suffers  to  be  done, 
But  what  ourselves  would  do,  if  we  could  see 
The  end  of  all  events  as  well  as  he." 

Give  not  place  to  impatience,  then,  nor  to  profitless  repining  under 
affliction.  Call  not  his  wisdom,  nor  his  justice,  nor  his  love,  into 
question,  as  though  the  sorrows  or  disappointments  you  experi- 
ence were  supernumerary ;  not  one  of  them  is  such — each  hath  its 
own  assigned  weight  and  bearing  on  the  great  and  glorious  issue. 

"  His  purposes  will  ripen  fast, 

Unfolding  every  hour ; 
The  bud  may  have  a  bitter  taste, 

But  sweet  will  be  the  flower." 

And  you,  afflicted  fellow  pilgrim  through  a  world  of  sin,  who  have 
been  oft  and  deeply  stricken  with  the  shafts  of  sorrow,  most  wel- 
come are  you  to  a  share  in  the  comfort  with  which  this  doctrine 
is  fraught ;  and  if  you  find  the  remedy  herein  for  which  your  heart 
is  seeking,  I  give  you  joy  of  your  discovery,  and  shall  feel  most 
thankful  if  my  instrumentality  have  led  to  it. 

"  Peace  to  thee,  mourner,  coming  years 
Will  give  thee  joy  instead  of  tears." 

For  myself,  if  the  reader  will  pardon  the  egotism,  I  will  say,  that 
the  light  of  this  theory  is  the  most  placid  and  cheering  which 
can  be  brought  to  shine  upon  the  pathway  of  my  life;  in  it  my 
heart  can  most  cheerfully  bask  when  the  darkness  of  disappoint- 
ment is  settling  upon  all  its  earthly  hopes.  Courage !  courage, 
my  soul  !  Thou  art  clad  with  a  panoply  which  makes  thee  invul- 
nerable to  the  shafts  of  despair— thou  mayst  sow  in  tears  awhile, 
but  anon  thou  shalt  reap  a  plentiful  harvest  of  joy. 

Past  my  fleeting  term  of  sorrow, 

Then  shall  my  life's  sun  decline, 
But  'twill  rise  in  joy  to-morrow, 

And  in  cloudless  regions  shine. 


DIFFERENT  VIEWS  AMONG  UNIVERSALISTS.  329 


DIFFERENT  VIEWS  AMONG  UNIVERSALISTS. 

Our  opponents  are  apt  to  reproach  us  on  account  of  the  diversity 
of  forms  in  which  our  doctrine  has  been  held  by  different  classes 
of  universalists ;  but  if  this  circumstance  makes  against  its  truth, 
what  shall  we  say  of  Christianity  itself,  which  has  existed  under  a 
thousand  varient  modifications  1  True  it  is,  that  in  nearly  all  ages 
of  the  church,  men  of  eminent  learning  and  piety  have  discovered, 
that  the  bible  most  clearly  teaches  the  final  salvation  of  all  man- 
kind, and  having  found  this,  they  have  employed  their  ingenuity 
in  devising  modes,  by  which  they  could  harmonize  it  with  their 
peculiar  notions  of  the  atonement.  It  is  thus  that  hypothetical 
theories  have  been  formed,  in  order  to  account  for  obvious  bible 
facts. 

Origen,  so  distinguished  a  luminary  of  the  church  in  the  third 
century,  and  many  after  him,  whose  minds  were  bewildered  with 
the  Platonic  mysticism  of  a  triplicated  deity,  and  who  supposed 
that  as  sin  is  directed  against  an  infinite  Being,  it  is  therefore  infi- 
nite, and  being  infinite,  it  must  demerit  an  infinitude  of  punish- 
ment— these,  I  say,  sought  out  a  method  by  which  the  damned 
may  be  restored,  consonantly  with  tiiese  (as  they  supposed  them) 
fundamental  principles  ;  but  this  is  not  to  take  place  until  long 
ages  of  suffering  have  been  endured,  and  that  of  the  most  terrible 
kind.  This  scheme,  in  our  country,  is  usually  termed  Winches- 
terian,  from  an  eminently  amiable  and  gifted  divine,  (formerly  of 
the  Calvinistic  baptist  communion,)  who  was  indefatigable  in  its 
promulgation,  both  in  England  and  America. 

The  learned  and  venerable  Tillotson,  a  prelate  of  the  English 
church,  took  a  different  view  from  the  preceding;  he  supposed 
endless  suffering  to  be  actually  threatened  in  the  bible,  but  as  uni- 
versal salvation  is  also  most  clearly  taught  therein,  he  accounted- 
for  the  paradox  by  supposing,  that  the  former  is  not  designed  to  be 
inflicted,  but  only  to  act  as  a  means  of  terrifying  and  reforming 
wicked  men  :  he  cites  the  case  of  Jonah's  denunciation  against 
Ninevah  as  an  illustration  of  his  hypothesis.  "  Yet  forty  days, 
and  Ninevah  shall  be  overthrown."  (iii.  4.)  But  the  menaced 
calamity  was  averted  by  the  repentance  of  the  inhabitants,  and  as 
Vol.  I.— 2  c  2 


330  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

this  result  could  not  but  have  been  foreseen,  the  learned  prelate 
supposes  that  Jehovah  merely  employed  the  threatening  for  that 
especial  end. 

Mr.  Huntington,  a  very  celebrated  congregational  clergyman,  of 
Connecticut,  advocated  universal  salvation  on  Calvinistic  princi- 
ples :  he  supposed  that  Christ,  as  the  federal  head  of  all  man- 
kind, offered  himself,  and  was  accepted  by  divine  justice,  as  their 
substitute;  and,  therefore,  that  all  the  denunciations  of  the  divine 
law  against  sin  were  executed  upon  Christ  in  the  sinner's  stead. 
Divine  justice  being  thus  fully  satisfied,  has  no  further  claim  upon 
men,  and  grace  can  accomplish  its  benevolent  purpose  in  rescuing 
them  from  the  dominion  of  sin  and  death,  and  exalting  them  to  a 
glory  and  felicity  far  surpassing  that  from  which  they  fell.  In 
this  way  as  sin  hath  abounded,  grace  shall  much  more  abound. 

Mr.  Huntington's  views,  which  were  drawn  up  and  vindicated 
by  himself  with  much  copiousness  and  ability,  were  published 
after  his  death  (agreeably  to  an  injunction  in  his  will)  under  the 
title  of  "  Calvinism  Improved."  In  the  preface  to  the  work,  he 
states,  that  he  had  entertained  these  sentiments  for  fourteen  years ; 
but  as  a  congregational  minister  (although  he  had  advanced  no- 
thing expressly  contrary  thereto  in  all  that  time)  he  had  deemed 
it  prudent  to  abstain  from  an  open  avowal  of  them.  Such  were 
the  bigotry  and  intolerance  of  the  times  ! 

Somewhat  similar  to  this  scheme  is  that  of  Mr.  Relly,  of  Lon- 
don :  he  supposed  an  indissoluble  union  to  subsist  between  Christ 
and  the  human  family,  in  consequence  of  which,  they  are  esteemed 
righteous  for  his  sake,  and  he  guilty  for  their's  ;  they  are  adorned 
and  beautified  with  his  grace  and  purity,  and  he  is  abased  and 
degraded  for  their  sins,  until  infinite  justice  is  satisfied,  and  both 
shall  then  be  perfected  and  blessed  forevermore.  Mr.  Kelly's 
doctrine  was  the  form  of  universalism  advocated  by  John  Mur- 
ray, the  earliest  universalist  preacher  in  America — a  man  of 
undoubted  genius  and  lively  turn  of  mind,  whose  biography  is 
singularly  eventful  and  instructive. 

With  the  peculiar  views  of  the  universalists  of  Germany,  I  am 
not  acquainted  ;  they  exist  in  such  number  that  an  American 
orthodox  divine  (President  Dwight  of  Yale  Colledge)  who  visited 
the  country,  reports  that  he  fell  in  with  but  one  learned  man  who 
professed  a  belief  in  the  eternity  of  hell  torments,  and  even  he  was 


DIFFERENT  VIEWS  AMONG  UNIVERSALISTS.  331 

not  quite  clear  that  the  bible  taught  the  doctrine  !  But  as  to  the 
particular  form  (or,  for  aught  1  know,/or77is,)  in  which  the  ulli 
mate  restitution  of  all  men  is  held  in  Germany,  I  cannot  assert 
with  any  confidence ;  the  divine  before  referred  to  affirms,  that 
they  maintain  it  on  philosophical  rather  than  scriptural  grounds. 
Nevertheless,  his  testimony  concerning  the  general  rectitude  of 
their  character,  and  the  extent  and  depth  of  their  erudition,  is  in 
a  very  high  degree  honorable  to  them.  He  concedes  also,  that 
their  attainments  in  biblical  literature  very  considerably  exceed 
those  of  the  theologians  in  all  other  parts  of  Christendom  ;  and 
the  same,  I  believe,  is  conceded  by  every  body  entitled  to  a  judg- 
ment about  it. 

I  know  of  but  two  classes  of  believers  in  universal  salvation  at 
the  present  day — one  of  which,  for  distinction  sake,  are  termed 
restorationists  ;  their  belief  is,  that  impenitent  persons  shall  be 
punished  in  the  future  state,  and  that  their  punishment  shall  be 
proportioned,  in  duration  and  intensity,  to  the  degrees  of  turpitude 
in  the  parties.  They  mostly  agree  that  this  suffering  will  be 
moral  in  its  nature,  not  physical — and  they  consequently  reject 
the  notion  of  a  local  hell.  They  hold  punishment  to  be  corrective 
and  disciplinary,  and  that  it  will  infallibly  eventuate  in  the  good 
of  the  subjects  ;  yet,  they  do  not  maintain  (as  their  opposers  are 
apt  to  report)  that  the  damned  are  to  be  saved  by  virtue  of  these 
penal  inflictions,  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  hold  salvation  to  be  of 
grace,  a  free  gift,  and  therefore,  exclusive  of  both  works  and  suf- 
ferings. 

The  other  class  (usually  termed  modern^  and  by  some,  reproach- 
fully, ultra  universalists,)  maintain  that  all  the  punishment  for 
sin  is  experienced  in  this  life ;  for  an  infinitely  benevolent  Being 
(they  affirm)  can  have  no  motive  for  punishing,  aside  from  amend- 
ing the  subject,  or  deterring  others  from  sinning,  and  for  neither 
of  these  objects  can  it  be  necessary  to  prolong  the  punishment 
beyond  the  term  of  our  present  existence:  for  the  history  of  some 
of  the  deepest  offenders  proves  (as  they  think)  that  long  periods 
of  penal  suffering  cannot  be  required  for  subduing  the  sinner,  (as 
their  brethren  of  the  Winchesterian  or  restorationist  order  seem  to 
suppose.)  Mary  Magdalene,  out  of  whom  seven  evil  spirits  were 
cast,  and  whose  sins  are  emphatically  said  to  have  been  many 
was  nevertheless  subdued  within  the  term  of  her  mortal  life,  ana 


332  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

brought  to  wash  the  Savior's  feet  w  iiii  her  penitential  tears.  But 
a  look  from  Jesus  was  sufficient  to  cause   Peter,  whilst  in  the 

act  of  denying  hinn  with  cursing,  to  go  out  and  weep  bitterly 

There  is  ground  for  believing  that  even  the  traitor  Judas  broke  his 
heart  with  poignant  sorrow  for  the  betrayal  of  his  master.  "  I  am 
Jesus  whom  thou  perseculest,"  was  all  that  the  persecuting  zea- 
lot, Saul,  needed  to  soften  him  down  into  a  disposition  to  inquire, 
"  Lord,  what  would'st  thou  have  me  to  do  ?"  Ages  of  suffering 
were  not  required  for  the  subdual  of  the  expiring  thief,  etc.  These, 
and  numerous  kindred  cases,  sufficiently  establish  the  fact,  that 
the  manifestations  of  divine  goodness  to  the  minds  of  sinners  are 
all-powerful  in  conquering  their  enmity,  and  engaging  their  affec- 
tions; and  that  for  this  object  but  a  little  time  is  necessary. 

Amongst  modern  universalists  there  are  those,  who  think  that 
although  there  will  be  no  positive  suffering  for  sin  endured  in 
eternity,  yet  that  the  sinner  will,  on  account  of  his  wickedness 
in  time,  sustain  an  eternal  loss  ;  for  we  are  progressive  beings, 
(say  they,)  and  it  is  not  reasonable  that  those  who,  in  this  life, 
have  neglected  the  improvement  of  their  moral  nature,  should,  in 
eternity,  be  admitted  to  equal  happiness,  or  advanced  to  equal  ex- 
cellence with  those  who  have  :  to  expect  this  (ihey  affirm)  is  to 
expect  in  contrariety  to  present  experience,  for  all  moral  attain- 
ment among  men  is  the  result  of  effort — of  guarding  and  striving 
against  our  evil  propensities,  and  sedulously  cultivating  those 
habits  and  principles  which  form  the  basis  of  virtuous  character. 
In  the  spiritual  state,  therefore,  (they  contend)  although  we  are 
fully  warranted  in  the  belief  that  all  will  be  brought  to  a  know- 
ledge and  enjoyment  of  God,  yet  this  no  more  implies  that  all  shall 
be  exalted  and  felicitated  in  an  equal  degree,  than  the  fact  that 
some  are  here  brought  to  know  and  enjoy  God  proves  that  they 
are  equal  in  purity  and  felicity  to  the  angels  of  heaven.  The  fol- 
lowing comparison  will  afford  some  illustration  of  their  views  on 
this  head. 

James  and  William  were  brothers;  their  father,  being  on  the 
eve  of  a  long  absence  from  home,  divided  his  estate  equally  between 
them,  telling  them  that  on  their  faithful  improvement  of  their 
respective  shares  during  his  absence,  their  well-being  should 
entirely  depend  ;  but  that  on  his  return  he  would  bestow  upon 
each  a  sura  of  money  that  should  be  an  ample  competency  for 


DIFFERENT  VIEWS  AMONG  UNIVERSALISTS.  333 

them  during  the  residue  of  their  lives :  this  was  to  be  a  free  do- 
nation, and  irrespective  of  their  merits  or  demerits.  Well,  James 
went  to  work  upon  his  portion  of  the  estate,  determined  to  advance 
it  to  the  highest  degree  of  improvement.  William,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  indolent,  neglectful  of  his  affairs,  and  his  portion  of 
the  property  got  into  disorder  and  dilapidation.  On  the  father's 
return,  at  the  end  of  ten  years,  he  found  James  to  be  already  in 
wealthy  circumstances  in  consequence  of  his  industry  and  sobri- 
ety ;  whilst  William,  poor  fellow  !  was  in  rags,  and  in  debt,  pre- 
senting a  picture  of  squalid  poverty.  This  posture  of  things,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  the  fulfilling  of  his  original  intentions,  and 
he  accordingly  presented  each  of  his  sons  the  sum  of  twenty  thou- 
sand dollars.  James  remonstrated,  urging  that  as  he  was  the 
more  deserving  by  his  good  conduct,  he  was  entitled  to  a  larger 
sum  than  William,  who,  indeed,  was  not  deserving  of  any,  having 
been  so  improvident  for  himself,  and  so  prodigal  of  what  he  had 
already  received.  "  But  remember,  my  son,"  replied  the  father, 
*'  that  the  money  I  am  now  bestowing  is  not  given  on  the  ground 
o{  reward,  but  of  grace  exclusively.  Shall  I  prove  evil  to  Wil- 
liam, poor  fellow  !  because  he  has  been  evil  to  himself?  Have 
not  his  indolence  and  prodigality  already  sufficiently  punished  him 
during  the  past  ten  years  %  He  has  suffered  from  want — from  the 
embarrassments  of  debt — from  innumerable  mortifications  and 
humiliations — whilst,  on  the  other  hand,  have  you  not  enjoyed 
plenty,  and  ease,  and  honor,  and  self-approval  ?  And  even  now, 
although  I  give  to  him  an  equal  sum  as  to  yourself,  yet  see  you  not 
that  you  are  fully  as  much  in  advance  of  him  in  your  circum- 
stances as  before  ?  for  you  have  your  portion  of  the  estate  I  gave 
you  on  leaving,  highly  improved,  and  capable  of  itself  of  yielding 
you  a  handsome  maintenance  ;  whereas,  William's  portion  is  not 
in  a  condition  to  yield  him  anything!" 

In  this  comparison,  the  soul,  or  moral  nature  of  man,  is  consider- 
ed as  an  estate  left  to  his  cultivation  and  care  by  his  heavenly 
Father,  who  is  supposed  to  be  absent.  On  man's  management  of 
this  estate  entirely  depends  his  present  moral  enjoyment;  if  neg- 
lected, it  will  soon  be  overrun  with  the  weeds  of  error  and  sin, 
and  instead  of  bearing  the  fruits  of  peace,  joy,  hope,  love,  etc.,  it 
will  produce  the  thorns  and  briars  of  remorse,  misery,  and  despair. 
But  in  his  infinite  goodness,  God  has  promised  immortal  life,  and 


334  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

a  subduing  and  reconciling  view  of  his  glory,  to  the  whole  human 
race,  so  that  all  shall  bow  to  him — be  blessed  in  Christ — and  be- 
come the  willing  subjects  of  his  government.  These  blessings  arc 
not  promised  as  an  equivalent  for  works  performed  on  our  part,  nor 
for  qualities  attained,  but  as  a  free  gift.  Still,  this  does  not  im- 
ply that  all  are  to  be  blessed  in  an  equal  degree,  or  (to  carry  out 
the  figure)  that  their  several  estates  are  to  be  brought  to  a  like  de- 
gree of  advancement;  but  on  the  contrary,  it  is  supposed,  that 
those  in  which  the  christian  graces  have  been  longer  and  more 
assiduously  cultivated,  will  be  in  a  condition  to  yield  them  in 
greater  abundance  and  perfection. 

Those  who  take  this  view,  hold  it  not  as  a  mere  speculation, 
but  (as  they  suppose)  on  scriptural  warrant;  for  Paul  (say  they) 
clearly  recognises  a  diversity  of  orders  among  the  subjects  of  the 
resurrection.  I  believe  that  this  view  obtains  very  generally 
amongst  the  unitarians  of  this  country,  and  the  author  will  con- 
fess, it  is  that  to  which  his  own  judgment  the  most  strongly 
inclines.  The  only  objection  (so  far  as  I  know)  to  which  it  is 
liable,  is,  that  it  represents  Jehovah  as  partial  in  making  some  of 
his  creatures  to  be  eternally  superior  to  others.  But,  then,  it  is 
admitted  that  some  are  aciually  made  superior  to  others  in  time- 
superior  in  person,  intellect,  fortune,  and  moral  qualities.  It  is 
also  admitted  that  there  are  angelic  beings  who  were  made  supe- 
rior to  man.  Why  do  not  these  facts  as  well  form  a  ground  of 
impeachment  against  the  impartiality  of  God,  as  the  other  ?  Truth 
is,  that  grades  in  the  order  of  being  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
arrangements  in  the  economy  of  creation,  and  especially  when  we 
consider  that  these  several  orders  are  not  doomed  to  remain  eter- 
nally stationary,  but  are  destined  to  progress  toward  the  infinite 
centre  of  perfection  forever. 

This  view,  it  seems  to  me,  if  it  is  not  directly  asserted,  is  at 
least  countenanced  by  the  sacred  writers  :  what  else  means  Paul 
when  he  speaks  of  some  who  were  tortured  for  the  truth's 
sake,  "  not  accepting  deliverance,  that  they  might  obtain  a  better 
resurrection?''^  (Heb.  xi.  35.)  And  what  means  he  also  in  tho 
following  passage?  "There  are  al?o  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies 
terrestrial :  but  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of 
the  terrestrial  is  another.  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  and  ano- 
ther glory  of  the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars ;  for  one 


DIFFERENT  VIEWS  AMONG  UNIVERSALISTS.  335 

Star  difFereth  from  another  star  in  glory.  So  also  is  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  dead."  (1  Cor.  xv.  40,  41.)  The  christian  course, 
moreover,  is  compared  to  a  race,  a  wrestle,  and  other  exercises 
usual  in  the  Olympic  games,  in  which  a  prize  was  held  out  to 
stimulate  exertion.  And  Paul  speaks  of  himself  as  pressing 
toward  the  mark  of  his  high  calling  in  Christ  Jesus.  At  the  close 
of  his  treatise  on  the  resurrection,  moreover,  he  exhorts  his  Corin- 
thian brethren,  tn  viev)  of  that  events  to  be  "  steadfast,  unmoveable, 
always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord;"  and  this,  too,  from 
a  knowledge  on  their  part  (grminded  on  the  consoling  facts  he 
had  adduced  in  his  letter)  that  their  labor  was  "  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord." 

The  above  are  all  the  modifications  of  the  universalist  faith  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  ;  they  display  a  diversity  as  to  the  mode 
merely,  not  as  to  the  main  principle  of  that  doctrine  :  there  are  few 
universalists  who  care  greatly  as  to  the  particular  form  in  which 
others  hold  their  doctrine — their  chief  concern  is  about  the  essen- 
tial fact,  the  ultimate  bringing  in  of  all  the  human  race,  and  this 
in  God's  own  way,  they  care  not  how — and  in  God's  own  time, 
they  care  not  when ;  their  entire  confidence  in  the  unbounded 
wisdom  and  goodness  of  the  Creator,  inspires  them  with  a  disposi- 
tion most  cheerfully  to  acquiesce  beforehand  in  his  disposition  of 
the  matter,  without  doubting  that  he  will  do  all  things  for  the  best 
end,  and  in  the  best  manner. 

But  supposing  the  diversity  of  forms  in  which  the  universalist 
faith  is  held,  to  be  much  greater  than  it  is — what  then  1  Is  the 
fundamental  fact  the  less  to  be  believed,  because  there  are  diflfer- 
ences  of  opinion  as  to  the  mode  of  it?  And  would  the  advocates 
of  endless  misery  have  us  believe  that  there  is  less  diversity  con- 
cerning that  tenet  %  It  would  seem  so,  certainly,  from  the  way  in 
which  they  are  wont  to  taunt  us  on  this  ground.  But  let  us  see 
how  the  fact  stands.  Some  believe  in  endless  damnation  on  the 
ground  of  the  divine  decrees — some  on  the  ground  of  an  abuse  of 
our  free  powers — some  say  that  our  sins  here  are  of  infinite  turpi- 
tude, and  justify  God  in  damning  us  to  eternity — some  say  that 
we  are  not  to  be  eternally  damned  for  the  sins  of  this  life,  but  that 
sin  has  a  self-perpetuating  power,  and  our  punishment  will  be 
endless  because  our  sin  will  be  so.  Some  say  that  our  damnation 
will  consist  of  a  literal  burning  in  hell — some,  that  it  will  be  con- 


336  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM* 

stituted  of  remorse,  and  an  absence  of  the  divine  goodness — some 
affirm  that  we  shall  be  damned  if  found  out  of  the  faith  and  com- 
munion of  the  true  church — some,  that  in  whatever  faith  or  church 
we  are  found,  or  whether  in  none  at  all,  if  we  improve  aright  such 
opportunities  as  have  been  afforded  us,  it  will  go  well  with  us, 
but  if  otherwise  we  shall  be  damned  for  the  nonimprovement— 
some  maintain  that  the  neglecting  to  secure  the  new  birth  will  be 
the  ground  of  our  damnation  ;  and  some,  that  we  must  be  baptized 
or  be  damned,  whatever  else  we  may  do  or  leave  undone,  etc.,  etc. 
Universalists,  however,  do  not  contend  against  each  other  on 
account  of  their  diversity  of  views;  and  this  is  much  more  than 
can  be  said  of  the  believers  in  endless  torments :  the  former,  in- 
deed, have  no  motives  for  contention — the  latter  have  very  weighty- 
ones  ;  for  if  the  interests  of  the  immortal  state  are  in  any  degree 
dependant  upon  a  correct  faith  in  this  world,  we  should  doubtless 
strive  with  all  our  might  to  save  men  from  their  heresies,  at  what- 
ever expense  to  their  earthly  peace  or  interests  ;  hence  this  doc- 
trine fully  justifies  persecution  for  opinion's  sake,  but  universalism 
does  not ;  for  it  does  not  represent  God  in  the  character  of  a  holy 
inquisitor,  tormenting  his  short-sighted  creatures  in  everlasting 
flames,  because  of  their  misfortune  in  failing  to  find  and  believe 
the  truth.  True  it  is,  that  universalists  deem  the  acquisition  of 
truth  to  be  of  great  importance  to  men  for  their  present  benefit,  and 
hence  they  endeavor  to  gain  them  over  to  embrace  and  enjoy  it ; 
but  as  this  motive  for  zeal  in  the  propagation  of  their  faith  is 
based  upon  a  desire  to  extend  the  bounds  of  human  happiness,  it 
would  ill  comport  with  that  motive  to  quarrel  with  men  because 
they  were  not  of  their  opinion  in  religion. 


AN  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  CONSIDERED.  337 


AN  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  CONSIDERED. 

To  human  wisdom,  relative  to  the  state  immediately  subsequent 
to  death,  very  narrow  limits  are  assigned  ;  and  the  paucity  of 
information  upon  this  point  in  the  sacred  writings,  sufficiently 
proves  that  they  were  not  given  for  our  enlightenment  in  regard  ta 
it.  From  many  portions  of  the  Old  Testament  it  might  be  infer- 
red, that  a  future  sentient  existence  was  not  at  all  believed  in  by 
the  writers.  Solomon  saith,  "  For  the  living  know  that  they  shall 
die  :  but  the  dead  know  not  any  thing,  neither  have  they  any  more 
a  reward  ;  for  the  memory  of  them  is  forgotten.  Also  their  love, 
and  their  hatred,  and  their  envy,  is  now  perished ;  neither  have  they 
any  more  a  portion  for  ever  in  any  thing  that  is  done  under  the  sun." 
(Eccles.  ix.  5,  6.)  And  again  he  says,  in  the  tenth  verse  of  the  same 
chapter,  that  there  is  no  knowledge  in  skeol  (the  separate  state) 
whither  we  are  going.  Hezekiah  says,  "  Death  cannot  celebrate 
thee  ;  they  that  go  down  into  sheol  cannot  hope  for  thy  truth." 
(Isa.  xxxviii.  18.)  In  the  following  language  from  Job,  there  is 
an  evident  vacillation  of  mind  betwixt  hope  and  doubt  relative  to 
a  future  being.  "  For  there  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down, 
that  it  will  sprout  again,  and  that  the  tender  branch  thereof  will 
not  cease.  Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth,  and  the 
stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground  ;  yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it 
will  bud,  and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant.  But  man  dieth, 
and  wasteth  away ;  yea,  man  giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is 
he  ?  As  the  waters  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  flood  decayeth  and 
drieth  up  ;  so  man  lieth  down,  and  riseth  not :  till  the  heavens  be 
no  more  they  shall  not  awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of  their  sleep.  If 
a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again  %  All  the  days  of  my  appointed 
time  will  I  wait,  till  my  change  come.  Thou  shall  call,  and  I 
will  answer  thee  :  thou  wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thy 
hands."  (Jobxiv.  7 — 12,  14,  15.)  Nothing  was  ever  better  con- 
veyed than  is  the  alternation  of  hope  and  doubt  in  the  mind  of  the 
speaker,  relative  to  the  important  topic  of  which  he  speaks. 

From  the  reluctance,  too,  with  which  death  was  contemplated 
in  Old  Testament  times,  it  seems  fairly  inferrible,  that  a  state  of 
felicity  immediately  subsequent  thereto  was  not  expected.   When 

Vol.  1—2  D  No.  15. 


338  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

it  was  announced  lo  the  good  Hezekiah  that  he  was  to  die,  he 
received  the  announcement  with  extreme  sorrow,  and  humbled 
himself  before  God  in  prayer  for  a  continuance  of  his  life.  In 
numerous  instances,  too,  we  find,  that  length  of  days  is  promised 
as  a  reward  of  a  virtuous  course  of  conduct.  Both  Moses  and 
Aaron  had  their  mortal  lives  abridged,  as  a  punishment  for  certain 
specified  acts  of  disobedience.  These  facts  seem  to  imply  very 
clearly,  that  it  was  not  in  those  days  believed,  that  death  occa- 
sioned an  immediate  transit  from  earth  to  heaven. 

Nor  does  the  New  Testament,  as  I  think,  aiford  much  clearer 
ground  of  faith  upon  this  point.  I  know  that  certain  texts  can  be 
adduced,  which,  considered  by  themselves,  would  favor  the  notion 
that  men  pass  at  death  from  earth  to  immediate  felicity  ;  but  then 
I  also  know,  that  the  weight  of  these  is  countervailed  by  other 
texts,  and  a  legitimate  deduction  from  certain  scriptural  facts. — 
As,  then,  we  can  have  no  possible  interest  in  being  deceived  on 
this  head,  let  us  briefly,  yet  candidly,  take  a  view  of  what  may  be 
said  on  both  sides. 

Christ's  words  to  the  dying  thief  afford,  perhaps,  the  strongest 
argument  in  favor  of  the  notion  of  immediate  post-mortem  happi- 
ness. "  To-day,  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  paradise."  (Luke 
xxiii.  43.)  But  it  is  usual  to  take  quite  too  much  for  granted  in 
the  popular  application  of  this  case,  viz.,  that  the  thief  had  a  true 
faith  in  Christ's  messiahship — that  he  was  convicted,  and  repented 
of,  his  sins — that,  when  he  begged  to  be  remembered  of  Christ 
when  he  came  into  his  kingdom,  he  had  reference  to  Christ's 
coming  in  the  final  judgement — and  that  Christ's  answer  implied, 
that  he  should  be  with  him  that  day  in  heaven.  Now  to  my  mind 
there  is  very  great  improbability  in  each  of  these  items  ;  and  since 
they  are  taken  on  sheer  assumption,  I  will  offset  against  them  the 
following,  which,  at  least,  may  be  supported  by  a  better  show  of 
reason,  viz  :  That  the  confession  of  guilt  which  the  thief  made, 
had  only  respect  to  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered,  not  his  sin 
against  God — that  his  notions  of  the  Messiah  being  Jewish,  he  ex- 
pected him  to  come  and  establish  a  temporal  dynasty,  and  to  this  he 
had  reference  in  his  petition — that  Christ's  answer  was  designed 
to  call  oflf  his  attention  from  such  expectations,  and  direct  it  to  the 
fact,  that  he  should  that  day  be  with  himself  in  the  separate  state. 
Such  is  my  judgement  of  this  case,  and  here  are  the  reasons  for  it. 


AN  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  CONSIDERED.  339 

Christ's  own  apostles  had  not  correct  ideas,  at  that  time,  of  the 
nature  of  the  kingdom  he  came  to  establish;  for,  only  the  night 
previous,  they  had  contended  among  themselves  as  to  vt^hich. 
should  be  the  greatest  under  his  reign ;  which  proves  that  their 
notions  on  this  subject  were  Jewish,  and  it  is  irrational  to  suppose 
that  the  thief  had  more  correct  notions  about  it  than  they  who  had 
listened  to  Christ's  instruction  for  years !  But  again.  When 
was  Messiah  to  come  in  his  kingdom  1  Not  surely  at  the  close 
of  time ;  for  then  it  is  that  he  is  to  "  deliver  up  the  kingdom  to 
God,  even  the  Father."  Christ  came  in  his  kingdom  spiritually 
(and  in  no  other  sense  was  he  to  come)  when,  at  the  close  of  the 
Jewish  dispensation,  he  established  his  church  in  the  world.  It 
will  hence  be  seen,  that  the  thief  could  not  have  had  the  evangeli- 
cal faith  in  Christ  which  the  popular  application  of  the  subject 
supposes.  Moreover,  the  Savior  went  at  death  to  the  separate  statSy 
or  hades,  and  not  to  heaven.  See  how  Peter  speaks  to  this  point. 
"  Men  and  brethren,  let  me  freely  speak  unto  you  of  the  patriarch 
David,  that  he  is  both  dead  and  buried,  and  his  sepulchre  is  with 
us  unto  this  day.  Therefore  being  a  prophet,  and  knowing  that 
God  had  sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins, 
according  to  the  flesh,  he  would  raise  up  Christ  to  sit  on  his 
throne  ;  he,  seeing  this  before,  spake  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ, 
that  his  soul  was  not  left  in  hell,  neither  his  flesh  did  see  corrup- 
tion." (Acts  ii.  29—31.) 

Another  passage  which  seems  to  favor  the  idea  of  immediate 
happiness  after  death,  is  that  which  describes  Christ's  transfigu- 
ration. "And,  behold,  there  talked  with  him  two  men,  which 
were  Moses  and  Elias  ;  who  appeared  in  glory,  and  spake  of 
his  decease  which  he  should  accomplish  at  Jerusalem."  (Luke 
ix.  30,  31.)  If  Moses  and  Elias  were  translated  to  immediate 
felicity,  it  may  be  argued  that  such  may  be  the  case  with  all 
righteous  persons  at  their  decease.  There  is  a  real  diflSculty  in 
this  case,  which  I  by  no  means  feel  disposed  to  overleap,  (as 
others  have  done,)  by  assuming,  that  the  whole  affair  was  a  mere 
vision.  I  would  rather  suppose  that,  as  the  transfiguration  of 
Christ  was  but  of  temporary  duration,  and  evidently  miraculous 
in  its  nature,  so  the  appearance  and  felicitous  existence  of 
Moses  and  Elias  may  also  have  been  out  of  the  ordinary  course 
of  things,  and  for  only  the  time  being.     Who,  for  instance,  would 


340  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

argue  from  the  following  fact,  which  took  place  at  the  Savior's 
last  groan,  that  the  same  kind  of  a  resurrection  is  constantly  going 
on?  "And  the  graves  were  opened;  and  many  bodies  of  the 
saints  which  slept  arose,  and  came  out  of  the  graves  after  his 
resurrection,  and  went  into  the  holy  city,  and  appeared  unto 
many."  (Matt,  xxvii.  52,  53.)  Here  was  a  nsingfrom  the  graves, 
but  whether  the  risen  remained  alive,  or  returned  almost  imme- 
diately to  their  quiescent  stale,  we  are  not  informed  ;  but  1  suppose 
the  latter,  as  nothing  is  subsequently  said  of  them. 

Again,  Paul  intimates  that  to  be  absent  from  the  body,  is  to  be 
"present  with  the  Lord;"  it  is,  (he  says,)  to  "be  with  Christ, 
which  is  far  better :"  and  hence  he  conceived,  that  "  to  die,  is 
gain."  Stephen,  also,  commended  his  parting  spirit  to  the  Lord 
Jesus — as  Jesus  himself  did  his  into  the  hands  of  his  Father. — 
These,  on  the  face  of  them,  seem  decidedly  to  favor  the  notion  of 
felicity  immediately  subsequent  to  death.  I  have  no  wish  to 
force  upon  them  a  different  signification  ;  nor  to  do  anything  with 
them  which  would  abstract  from  their  natural  weight  in  this  dis- 
cussion.    Let  them  stand,  then,  as  we  find  them. 

The  following  passage  is  also  supposed  to  convey  an  argument 
favoring  the  same  side  of  the  question.  "  Now,  that  the  dead  are 
raised,  even  Moses  showed  at  the  bush,  when  he  ealleth  the  Lord 
the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob. 
For  he  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living:  for  all  live 
unto  him."  (Luke  xx.  37,  38.)  The  argument  couched  in  this 
passage  is,  that  as  "  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,"  and  yet 
terms  himself  "  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob," 
who  at  the  time  had  no  existence  on  the  earth,  it  therefore  fol- 
lows that  they  must  have  had  a  sentient  existence  somewhere ; 
and  if  they,  then  the  rest  of  the  dead  also,  "  for  all  live  unto  God." 
The  usual  reply  to  this  is,  (at  least  I  suppose  it  is,  fori  have  seen 
but  little  on  the  subject,)  that  since  ail  are  destined  to  be  raised 
in  God's  own  time,  and  all  duration,  with  all  its  events  and 
existences,  is  present  to  his  mind,  persons  may  be  said  to  live 
unto  him,  who  either  have  not  yet  come  on  to  the  stage  of  actual  be- 
ing, or  have  passed  off  of  it :  for  Jehovah  "  speaks  of  things  that 
be  not,  as  though  they  were." 

I,  however,  take  a  diflferent  view  from  the  preceding;  I  believe 
that  man  is  in  possession  of  an  undying  essence,  usually  called 


AN  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  CONSIDERED.  341 

his  soul,  or  his  spirit,  (I  am  not  over  particular  as  to  its  name,) 
which  came  from  God,  and  is  destined  to  return  to  him. — 
*'  There  is  a  spirit  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty 
giveth  them  understanding."  (Job  xxxii.  8.)  God  is  called  the 
"Father  of  spirits."  (Heb.  xii.  9.)  And  Paul  speaks  of  "the 
spirits  of  just  men,  made  perfect."  (Ibid.  23.)  Angels  are  said 
to  be  "  ministering  spirits."  (Ibid.  i.  14.)  And  Christ  says  of 
little  children,  "  their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  (Matt,  xviii.  10.)  From  which  I 
can  make  out  nothing  intelligible,  except  it  be,  that  we  have  a 
heavenly  essence  within  us  which  is  not  confinable  within  the 
narrow  limits  prescribed  to  mortal  nature,  but  is  privileged  to 
hold  communion  with  God  and  heavenly  things.  And  who  is  there 
that  has  not  felt,  with  a  force  which  no  language  can  convey,  that 
this  is  the  case  1  When  Christ  arose,  and  appeared  to  his  dis- 
ciples, they  supposed  the  appearance  before  them  to  be  a  spirit; 
and  Christ  informed  them  concerning  a  spirit,  negatively.  "  A 
spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones  as  ye  see  me  have."  (Luke  xxiv. 
37 — 39.)  And  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  that,  even  after  the  apostles 
had  been  more  fully  instructed  in  gospel  truth,  when  Peter  (after 
being  miraculously  delivered  out  of  prison)  appeared  at  the  house 
of  Mary,  where  many  were  convened  in  prayer,  they  could  not  at 
first  credit  the  damsel's  report,  that  Peter  was  at  the  door  ;  but, 
thinking  him  to  have  been  put  to  death,  they  supposed  that  it  was 
his  angel  that  the  woman  had  seen.  (Acts  xii.  15.)  In  short,  I 
have  no  fellowship  in  the  doctrine  that  man  is  a  mere  animal — 
merely  distinguished  from  other  animals  by  a  superior  organiza- 
tion, and  whose  entire  existence  after  death  depends  on  a  renovation 
of  his  physical  nature,  or,  in  other  words,  on  a  resurrection  of  his 
body.  Neither,  at  the  same  time,  do  I  believe  that  disembodied 
spirits  enter  at  once  into  a  condition  of  positive  enjoyment — and 
the  following  are  among  my  reasons  for  not  so  believing. 

The  widow  of  Nain's  son,  Jarus's  daughter,  and  Lazarus,  (the 
brother  of  Mary  and  Martha,)  were  raised  to  life  by  the  Savior  pre- 
vious to  his  own  death  and  resurrection.  These  (on  the  hypothe- 
sis I  am  opposing)  had  gone  to  heaven  or  to  hell,  (supposing  the 
existence  of  a  post-mortem  hell.)  If  to  the  latter,  there  is  then  a 
redemption  from  hell.  If  to  the  former,  was  there  mercy  in  call- 
ing them  from  a  state  of  positive  bliss,  to  one  of  perpetual  liability 

Vol.  I.— 2d2 


342  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

to  suffering  ?  Besides,  Christ  is  called  "  the  first  fruits  of  them 
that  slept" — "  the  first  born  from  the  dead" — and  "  our  forerun- 
ner" into  the  holy  place.  How  could  he  be  with  propriety  so 
termed,  if  others  had  passed  through  death  to  the  happiness  of 
heaven  before  him  1  Moreover,  Peter,  when  preaching  to  the 
Jews  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  positively  asserts,  "  for  David  is 
not  ascended  into  the  heavens."  (Acts  ii.  34.)  And  if  David  had 
not,  it  is  presumable  that  others  had  not  also. 

It  must  be  remarked,  that  the  declaration  concerning  David  was 
made  subsequent  to  Christ's  resurrection.  I  notice  this,  because 
there  are  those  who  think,  that  although  previous  to  that  event 
the  dead  were  kept  in  a  negative  state  as  to  enjoyment,  yet,  when 
"  Christ  our  forerunner"  had  "  entered  into  the  holy  place,"  the 
■whole  congregation  of  the  dead  were  admitted  also.  In  further 
opposition  to  this  notion,  it  must  be  remarked,  that  dead  persons 
were  also  recalled  to  life  by  the  apostles  after  Christ's  ascension, 
and  therefore,  (as  remarked  concerning  those  raised  by  the  Savior) 
they  were  recalled  from  a  world  of  bliss  to  a  world  of  tears — an 
act,  methinks,  which  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  would  have 
consented  to  perform.  I  am  at  a  loss,  too,  on  this  hypothesis,  to 
account  for  the  following  language  :  "  For  we  know  that  the 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until  now  : 
and  not  only  they,  but  ourselves  also,  which  have  the  first-fruits 
of  the  spirit;  even  we  ourselves  groan  within  ourselves,  waiting 
for  the  adoption,  to  wit,  the  redemption  of  our  body."  (Rom.  viii. 
22,  23.)  The  sense  on  the  face  of  this  text  seems  most  clearly 
to  be,  that  the  final  redemption  of  the  entire  body  of  humanity, 
must  first  take  place,  before  any  of  the  members  thereof  could 
eajoy  the  happiness  in  reversion  for  them — a  sentiment  (as  I  have 
elsewhere  observed )  fraught  with  beauty  and  benevolence.  And  in 
the  following  passage,  which  refers  to  the  ancient  worthies  who 
had  suffered  persecution  and  death  for  the  cause  of  truth,  the 
same  idea  seems  to  be  conveyed.  "  And  these  all,  having  obtained 
a  good  report  through  faith,  received  not  the  promise  :  God  having 
provided  some  better  thing  for  us,  that  they  without  us  should  not 
be  made  perfect."  (Heb.  xi.  39,  40.) 

It  may  farther  be  urged  against  the  doctrine  of  immediate  hap- 
piness after  death,  that  if  it  be  true,  the  necessity  of  a  resurrec- 
tion is  entirely  superseded,  except  (as  many  think,  the  society  of 


AN  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  CONSIDERED.  343 

Friends  included)  that  the  resurrection  succeeds  instantly  to  the 
dissolution  of  the  body ;  and  in  that  case  death  (as  the  Sweden- 
borgians  say)  is  nothing  more  than  a  change  in  the  mode  of  being  ; 
if  which  be  true,  the  sacred  writers  have  employed  language  on 
the  subject  most  strangely  at  variance  with  the  idea  they  meant  to 
convey.  Paul  assuredly  speaks  of  a  rising  again  of  the  same  body 
which  is  laid  in  the  grave.  "  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead  :  it  is  sown  in  corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption  :  it  is 
sown  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory  :  it  is  sown  in  weakness, 
it  is  raised  in  power :  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spir- 
itual body.  There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual 
body."  (1  Cor.  xv.  42 — 44.)  He  also  speaks  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  under  the  figure  of  grain  springing  up  from  seed  sown 
into  the  ground ;  in  which  case  it  is  not  wholly  the  identical  seed 
that  springs  up,  but  the  germ  of  it  merely,  between  which  and 
a  certain  portion  of  the  earth  and  other  elements,  there  are  chymi- 
cal  affinities,  from  which  result  those  new  combinations,  which  in 
form  and  substance  resemble  the  original  seed. 

To  me,  then,  three  things  seem  to  be  clearly  taught  in  the 
scriptures  :  first,  that  the  spirit  of  man  has  some  sort  of  an  exist- 
ence separate  from  the  body  :  second,  that  it  is  not  one  of  positive 
bliss :  and  third,  that  there  is  to  be  a  resurrection,  in  which  all 
shall  be  morally  subjected  to  God,  and  consequently  happy. 

To  assume,  as  many  do,  that,  because  now  we  are  mainly  (if 
not  altogether,  which  is  doubtful,)  dependant  on  our  bodily  organs 
for  our  mental  operations,  we  therefore  must  necessarily  lose  all 
cons'^-iousness  when  we  are  separated  from  the  body,  is,  in  my 
judgement,  to  assume  very  far  beyond  the  warrant  of  reason.  "  God 
is  a  spirit."  Is  he  also  dependant  on  bodily  functions  for  his 
consciousness  ]  If  not,  the  assumption  is  as  well  against /ad  as 
reason,  (allowing  the  divine  existence  to  be  a  matter  of  fact.)  It 
is  against  reason,  because,  from  what  is  possible  to  us  in  our 
present  mode  of  being,  it  is  unreasonable  and  presumptuous  to 
infer  with  confidence,  as  to  what  is  or  is  not  possible  to  every 
conceivable  mode  of  being.  It  were  full  as  sensible,  and  as 
modest,  to  assume,  that  because  the  mathematical  problems  in 
Euclid  are  utterly  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  child,  they 
will  therefore  be  equally  unintelligible  to  the  man.  I  am  sick  of 
that  hypercritical  scepticism  which  is  ever  directing  its  vulture 


344  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM. 

glance  to  the  spying  out  of  difficulties  in  every  thing  proposed  to 
its  faith,  and  rejecting  with  self-complacent  decisiveness  all  that 
comes  not  within  the  narrow  compass  of  its  apprehension. 

After  what  I  have  said  of  the  indeterminate  posture  in  which 
the  subject  before  us  is  left  by  the  sacred  writers,  it  must  not  be 
expected  of  me  to  be  wiser  than  they  in  regard  to  it,  for  I  frankly 
confess  it  to  be  a  topic  on  which  I  can  affirm  nothing,  except 
conjectural  ly. 

"  The  vast,  the  unbounded  prospect  lies  before  me, 
But  shadows,  clouds,  and  darkness,  rest  upon  it," 

until  I  extend  my  inquiries  to  the  era  of  the  resurrection  ;  then  all 
is  clearness  and  sunshine ;  for  of  it  the  scriptures  most  clearly 
speak  as  an  era  of  triumph — of  complete  and  glorious  triumph — 
over  every  foe,  and  for  eternity. 

In  our  bodily  state,  we  are  the  subjects  of  two  classes  of  sensa- 
tions ;  the  one  class  we  term  morale  the  other  animal ;  the  former 
come  from  the  exercise  of  our  souls,  or  moral  powers — from  re- 
flection, or  the  contemplation  of  abstract  things.  Our  animal 
sensations  come  to  us  directly  by  the  media  of  the  senses,  and 
are  strictly  confined  to  material  or  sensible  objects ;  these  it  can- 
not rationally  be  expected,  will  continue  to  be  experienced  when 
the  spirit  is  dislodged  from  its  earthly  tabernacle.  But  why  may 
not  the  spirit  continue  a  subject  of  moral  sensation  ?  Why  may 
it  not  experience  regret  at  what  it  may  have  lost  by  past  non- 
improvement?  and  remorse  for  the  guilt  it  may  have  contracted  by 
past  crimes'?  I  know  of  no  reason  in  the  world  why  it  may  not : 
and  therefore,  although  I  find  no  express  warrant  in  the  scriptures 
for  affirming  positively  that  punishment  does  extend  beyond  the 
dissolution  of  the  body,  yet,  as  I  also  find  no  express  warrant 
for  positively  affirming  the  contrary,  I  may  at  least  assert,  that 
the  former  is  neither  absolutely  impossible  nor  unreasonable. 

I  think  it  would  be  no  detriment  to  us  universalists  to  be 
more  modest  in  taking  ground  relative  to  the  separate  state;  or 
if  we  must  assume  positively  in  regard  to  it,  let  it  at  least  be  on 
some  express  authority,  either  scriptural  or  philosophical.  It  can- 
not be  doubted  that  some  texts  look  somewhat  strongly  toward 
the  idea,  that  our  doings  in  time  have  some  sort  of  bearing  upon 
our  condition  beyond  it.  Do  not  suspect  me,  reader,  of  being 
about  to  involve  the  bible  in  self-contradiction,  by  assuming  that 


AN  INTERMEDIATE  STATE  CONSIDERED.  345 

it  teaches  salvation  by  works,  or  by  faith,  or  any  thing  else,  inde- 
pendently of  the  grace  of  God.  I  purpose  no  such  thing :  but,  as  I 
have  said,  some  texts  do  look  toward  the  idea,  that  our  doings  here 
will  somehow  affect  our  condition  hereafter.  Christ  himself 
endured  the  cross  and  despised  the  shame,/or  the  joy  that  was  set  be- 
fore him.  (Heb.  xii.  2.)  Paul  conceived  a  crown  to  be  laid  up  for 
him  as  a  consequence  of  his  having  fought  the  good  fight  and 
kept  the  faith.  (2  Tim.  iv.  7,  8.)  And  Paul  and  his  brethren 
labored,  that  whether  present  with  the  Lord  out  of  the  body,  or 
absent  from  him  in  it,  they  might  be  accepted  of  him.  (2  Cor. 
V.  9.)  In  the  Revelation  we  are  told,  those  who  die  in  the  Lord 
are  blessed — "  for  they  rest  from  their  labors,  and  their  works  do 
follow  them.^^  (xiv.  13.)  1  affirm  not  positively  that  these,  and 
like  texts,  are  unequivocally  relevant  to  the  point  in  hand ;  but 
they  so  look  toward  it,  that  except  a  different  meaning  can  be 
found  for  them,  which  shall  be  as  obviously  in  agreement  with 
their  phraseology,  we  should  at  least  be  less  positive  in  assuming 
that  there  is  no  punishment  for  sin  of  any  kind  after  death. 

In  the  resurrection  we  are  to  have  spiritual  bodies,  by  which  is 
no  doubt  to  be  understood  that  the  physical  nature  with  which 
our  spirits  will  be  clothed  in  that  state,  will  be  refined  and  subli- 
mated beyond  any  thing  within  the  range  of  our  present  concep- 
tions, and  will  be  a  medium  to  us  of  a  very  high  degree  of  enjoy- 
ment, of  a  physical  or  sensible  kind.  "There  are  bodies  celes- 
tial," says  Paul,  "  and  bodies  terrestrial ;"  the  former  undoubtedly 
transcending  the  latter  in  glory,  by  as  much  as  the  heavens  trans- 
cend the  earth.  At  this  era,  it  would  seem,  we  are  again  to  be- 
come the  subjects  of  the  two  classes  of  sensations  (moral  and  sen- 
sible) afore-mentioned  ;  and  in  this  probably  consists  a  main  dif- 
ference betwixt  the  intermediate  and  the  resurrection  state  ;  the 
former  being  a  condition  of  the  spirit. in  which  it  is  unembodied, 
and  therefore,  unfurnished  with  sensorial  media — consequently  its 
enjoyment  or  suffering  must  be  strictly  abstract  or  moral  in  its 
nature. 

As  to  our  condition  in  the  risen  state,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  it  will  be  one  of  unspeakable  glory  ;  "  we  shall  bear  the  image 
of  the  heavenly" — "  we  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him 
as  he  is."  It  may  be,  as  the  ingenious  Paley  suggests,  that  the 
bodies  we  shall  then  possess  shall  be  furnished  with  new  and 


346  PRO  AND  CON  OF  UNIVERSALISM.' 

additional  senses,  of  which  we  cannot  now  conceive  the  use,  but 
which  shall  prove  the  media  of  new  and  hitherto  unconceived  sen- 
sations of  delight;  and  to  all  the  enjoyment  derivable  from  this 
source  will  be  added  all  that  shall  arise  from  a  renovation  of  our 
moral  faculties — resplendent  in  the  light  of  the  divine  approval — 
clothed  with  the  reflected  glory  of  his  perfections — and  rejoicing 
in  an  entire  and  for  ever  emancipation  from  sin  and  sorrow,  and  a 
prospective  perpetuity  of  bliss  upon  bliss  to  eternity. 

Nevertheless,  as  "  one  star  difFereth  from  another  star  in  glory, 
so  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead."  It  seems  anything  but 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  there  will  be  no  difference  at  that  era 
betwixt  Paul  (for  example)  and  the  individual  who  passed  from 
time  without  having  taken  the  first  step  in  moral  advancement. 
I  mean  not  by  this,  that  the  former  merits  a  higher  order  of  bliss — 
for  the  bliss  of  heaven  is  not  to  be  conferred  on  such  ground — but 
I  mean  that  it  would  be  an  utter  departure  from  the  uniform  course 
of  things  under  God's  moral  government.  We  here  experience  that 
effort  is  the  price  of  all  attainment,  both  moral  and  intellectual — 
that  all  advancement,  as  well  as  retrogression,  is  progressive — 
and  that  our  souls  (like  gardens  in  nature)  cannot  be  got  into  a 
condition  of  yielding  the  fruits  of  the  spirit  in  any  great  degree  of 
excellency  or  abundance,  without  sedulous  and  persevering  culti- 
vation. These  things  we  know  to  be  the  case  at  present,  and  we 
have  no  reason  for  supposing  they  will  be  different  with  us  when 
we  enter  upon  a  new  stage  of  existence. 

The  above,  reader,  is  all  that  I  can  propose  for  your  faith  on 
this  dim  subject ;  if  you  wish  for  more  particular  and  authorita- 
tive information  about  it,  why,  doubtless,  it  is  to  be  had  very 
cheaply  of  certain  persons,  who  dogmatize  with  most  positiveness 
in  matters  of  which  they  are  least  informed.  The  wise  man  is 
content  with  saying,  that  when  the  body  shall  return  to  the  dust 
as  it  was,  the  spirit  shall  return  to  the  God  who  gave  it — further 
concerning  it  he  pretendeth  to  know  nothing:  but  a  modern  poet 
(more  enlightened)  informs  us,  that 

"  To  heaven  it  flies,  not  there  to  dwell, 
But  hear  its  doom,  and  sink  to  hell." 

A  piece  of  poetry,  this,  which  I  have  oft  heard  sung  in  the 
churches,  but  have  never  been  able  to  find  in  the  writings  of 
Peter  or  Paul. 


HYMN THE  BETTER  WORLD.  347 

It  quite  sufficelh  me  to  be  wise  concerning  these  matters  within 
scripture  warrant ;  and  especially  as  I  have  no  particular  anxie- 
ties about  it,  from  a  consideration  that  "  whether  we  live,  there' 
fore,  or  die,  we  are  the  Lord's ;"  and  being  his,  his  wisdom  and 
goodness  will  see  to  our  being  properly  taken  care  of.  I  there- 
fore close  this  essay  as  I  begun  it,  by  remarking,  that  to  human 
wisdom,  relative  to  the  state  immediately  subsequent  to  death, 
very  narrow  limits  are  assigned. 


THE  BETTER  WORLD. 

There's  a  region  above 
Free  from  sin  and  temptation, 
And  a  mansion  of  love 
For  each  child  of  creation. 
Then  dismiss  all  thy  fears, 
Weary  pilgrim  of  sorrow — 
Though  thy  sun  set  in  tears, 
'Twill  rise  brighter  to-morrow. 

There  our  toils  shall  be  done, 
And  free  grace  be  our  story ; 
God  himself  is  its  sun 
And  its  unsetting  glory. 
In  that  world  of  delight, 
Spring  shall  never  be  ended ; 
Nor  shall  shadows  nor  night 
With  its  brightness  be  blended. 

There  shall  friends  no  more  part, 
Nor  shall  farewells  be  spoken ; 
There'll  be  balm  for  the  heart 
That  with  anguish  was  broken. 
From  affliction  set  free, 
And  from  God  ne'er  to  sever; 
We  his  glory  shall  see, 
And  enjoy  him  forever. 


REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Is  it  not  most  indubitable,  gentle  reader,  that  the  staid  and  com- 
fortable looking  personage  before  us  is  one  who  is  well  to  do  in 
the  world  1  for  see  with  what  an  air  of  sober  dignity  he  bestrides 
that  sleek  brown  gelding !  and  see,  too,  with  what  self-compla- 
cency he  taps  his  polished  boot  with  the  lash  of  his  silver-mounted 
riding  whip  !  And  does  not  the  slow-and-easy  jog  at  which  he 
ambles  along  bespeak  him  a  man  who  is  under  no  necessity  in  the 
world  for  being  in  a  hurry  1  Nor  is  he ;  for  elder  Triptolemus 
Tub  is  a  gentleman  of  substance,  in  whatever  sense  you  take  the 
term  ;  killed  and  weighed,  he  would  put  to  shame  the  best  hog  on 
his  plantation.  His  dwelling  is  a  massive  one  of  stone,  on  the 
Virginia  shore  of  the  Ohio  river ;  his  farm  is  the  sort  of  rich  flat 
land  which  Dutchmen  are  wont  to  covet;  his  harvests  usually 
well  supply  his  barn  and  crib,  nor  are  his  coop  and  pen  less  well 
replenished  ;  his  good  dame  lays  in  her  snufF  by  the  pound,  and 
does  nothing  the  live-long  day  but  superintend  the  feeding  of  her 
pigs  and  poultry;  and  why  should  Mrs.  Dorothy  Tub  do  more? 
seeing  she  has  at  her  beck  and  bidding  some  half  a  score  of  black- 
balls, who  can  show  as  shining  faces  and  as  complete  rows  of 
ivory  as  can  be  shown  by  any  body's  blackballs  within  the  limits 
of  the  "  Old  Dominion." 

I  will  not  assert  that  there  is  any  thing  particularly  pretty  or 
romantic  in  the  situation  of  the  elder's  domicil,  except  there  is 
prettiness  or  romance  in  a  straight  reach  of  river  with  naked  banks ; 
a  straight  line  of  post-and-rail  fence ;  and  a  straight  unshaded  road 
between.  There  is  an  object  of  interest  there,  nevertheless,  to 
arrest  the  steps  of  even  the  most  indifferent  passer-by ;  for  near  the 
huge  and  naked  trunk  of  an  elm  which  leans  over  the  water,  and 
whose  roots  (on  the  side  next  the  river)  have  been  washed  bare 
by  the  current,  a  square  stone  set  into  the  ground,  and  projecting 

Vol.  I — 2  E  349 


350  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

some  four  feet  above  it,  is  found  to  bear  the  following  radely 
chiseled  inscription  : 

Sacred 

To  the  memory  of  eighteen  gallant  men  who 

fell  on  this  spot  in  defence  of  the 

helpless  women  and  children^  of  the  early  settlement^ 

against  a  numerous  party  of  ferocious 

Indians,  on  the  19  th  day  of 

January,  1788. 

Here,  if  the  old  elm  were  still  in  the  pride  of  its  foliage,  the 
traveler  might  be  well  content  to  stop  under  its  shadow,  and  to 
rekindle  the  embers  of  his  patriotism  with  the  memories  of  by- 
gone days,  the  trials  and  hardships  endured  by  the  adventurous 
pioneers  of  the  western  wilderness.  It  is  said  that  even  through 
the  thick  plaits  of  fat  which  encase  the  heart  of  our  elder,  the  in- 
terests of  this  hallowed  spot  occasionally  find  their  way,  and  it 
may  well  be  believed,  since  amongst  the  band  of  heroes  thus 
briefly  epitaphed,  repose  the  ashes  of  his  venerated  father.  Old 
Epaphroditus  Tub. 

Our  friend  Triptolemus  keeps  a  store,  and  house  of  entertain- 
ment: too  godly  is  he  to  postpone  the  watering  of  his  whiskey, 
and  the  sanding  of  his  sugar,  until  sabbath  morning,  before  pray- 
ers ;  no,  no,  these  matters  are  decently  and  piously  attended  to 
on  the  previous  evening,  for  Mr.  Tub  is,  in  sooth,  a  very  godly, 
and  moderately  honest  man.  There  is  a  maxim  in  hacknied  use 
which  adviseth,  "  Get  along  honestly  if  you  can,  if  you  cannot 
honestly,  get  along,  anyhow.''''  The  elder  deemed  it  not  prudent  to 
begin  with  this  precept  at  the  right  end — he  tried  the  anyhow  first, 
opining  that  when  he  should  get  rich  at  that,  he  could  better  afford 
to  practice  honesty  afterward  :  there  is  spiritual  economy  too 
in  this  arrangement,  he  thought,  for  in  after  life,  when  preparing 
for  heaven  by  a  repentance  of  past  misdeeds,  it  will  be  found 
easier  resisting  the  devil  with  a  full  pocket  than  with  an 
empty  one,  and  easier  procuring  clerical  assistance  into  the  bar- 
gain. Still,  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  are  numberless 
inconveniences  attending  the  anyhow  practice,  among  which  not 
the  least  is,  that  habits  are  thereby  formed  which  it  will  task  all 
the  prudence  and  piety  of  after  years  to  overcome  :  even  the  godly 
Mr.  Tub  has  experienced  the  truth  of  this — he  came  near  being 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  351 

turned  out  of  church  lately.  (It  is'nt  right,  I  know,  to  be  telling 
this  to  the  world's  people^  but  I  do  it  for  the  sake  of  illustration.) 
It  was  ascertained  that  during  the  late  protracted  meeting  in  his 
parts,  (at  which,  too,  he  professed  to  have  attained  such  discove- 
ries in  religion  as  convinced  him  that  his  former  hopes  were 
groundless,)  he  had  suffered  the  minister's  horses,  in  his  stable, 
to  go  unfed  save  with  hay,  and  that  scantily,  for  the  space  of  eight 
days !  His  plea  was,  that  as  he  had  entertained  them  free  of 
charge,  there  was  no  dishonesty  in  the  case  ;  but  then  it  was 
decided  that  it  was  an  act  of  cruelty  to  the  animals,  and  of  decep- 
tion toward  the  owners,  who  would  certainly  have  preferred  that 
the  horses  should  be  fed  at  a  charge,  than  that  they  should  be 
starved  gratis.  However,  as  the  church  was  weak  in  numbers 
and  pecuniary  means,  it  was  concluded  to  overlook  the  elder's 
offence,  as  he  on  his  part  consented  to  double  his  subscription  for 
his  preacher — to  become  an  abolitionist,  and  to  allow  his  daughter, 
Kesiah  Tub,  to  go  about  soliciting  pious  donations  and  dispensing 
tracts.  Mr.  Tub,  therefore,  was  not  only  retained  in  the  church, 
but  also  in  his  ecclesiastical  dignity. 

One  all-redeeming  quality  hath  elder  Tub — one  which  will 
*'  cover  the  multitude  of  sins  ;"  it  is  this — he  is  most  orthodox  in 
faith,  and,  above  all,  in  the  faith  of  endless  damnation.  "  His 
own  damnation  1"  No,  no,  dear  reader,  by  no  means,  ha,  ha,  ha ! 
Not  his  own — none  but  fools,  or  very  nervous  folks,  believe  in  their 
own  damnation.  But  Mr.  Tub  is  quite  sure  that  somebody  will  be 
damned  ;  yet,  as  they  are  not  to  be  of  his  own  kith  or  kin,  he  takes 
the  matter  very  comfortably,  and  even  gets  quite  fat  on  it :  his  ex- 
perience on  this  point  is  expressed  in  the  following  luscious  verses : 

Prais'd  be  the  Lord,  I  pardon'd  am, 
My  spouse,  good  soul,  is  pardon'd  too. 

We  shall  be  saved  through  Christ  the  Lamb, 
In  spite  of  all  that  we  can  do. 

Our  offspring — six  in  number — all 

(By  pious  parents  sanctified,) 
Are  safe  in  grace,  whate'er  befall, 

For  who  can  Christ's  elect  divide  1 

For  others,  it  is  nought  to  me 

W  ho  shall  be  saved,  or  who  be  lost, 
Since  grace  shall  but  exalted  be, 

And  saints  be  blest  at  sinners'  cost. 


352  REVELATIONS  FROM  KELL, 


CHAPTER  II. 

Elder  Tub  sat  at  the  foot  of  the  old  elm,  one  moonlight  evening, 
ruminating  on  the  trials  and  dangers,  which  must  have  been  en- 
countered in  life  by  the  brave  men,  whose  fate  was  registered  on 
the  rude  stone  near  him  ;  an  unwonted  sensibility  came  over  his 
heart  on  this  theme,  insomuch  that  his  attention  became  abstracted 
from  surrounding  objects.  "  Noble,  gallant  fellows  !"  he  ejacu- 
lated, "to  tear  yourselves  from  the  haunts  of  secure  and  civilized 
existence,  with  all  its  conveniences  and  refinements,  and  to  adven- 
ture with  your  wives  and  little  ones  into  this,  then  dreadful, 
wilderness,  infested  with  savage  beasts,  and  more  savage  men ; 
where  every  want,  every  deprivation,  every  horrid  form  of  suffer- 
ing awaited  you.  How  much  our  now  smiling  and  populous 
country,  and  its  now  peaceful  and  happy  inhabitants,  owe  to  your 
enterprise  and  perseverance  !  Yet  here  you  lie,  with  nothing  but 
this  half  obliterated  tablet  to  tell  that  you  ever  lived,  and  to 
bear  its  record  to  the  great  and  noble  cause  in  which  you  died  ! 
But  never  mind,  my  gallant  hearts  !  for  if  our  country  is  unmindful 

of  her  benefactors,  it  is  consoling  to  think  that  heaven"- 

Here  our  soliloquist  was  interrupted  by  sounds  proceeding  from 
behind  him,  which  resembled  a  suppressed  giggle.  "  He,  he,  he, 
he !"  The  elder  felt  both  his  patriotism  and  his  piety  to  be  in- 
sulted by  this  ill-timed  merriment,  and,  supposing  it  to  have  come 
from  oneof  his  blackballs,  he  doubled  his  fist  with  the  meek  pur- 
pose of  knocking  him  down  ;  but  on  turning  around — horror  of 
horrors  !  what  was  his  astonishment  and  dismay  !  for  he  beheld 

a what  shall  I  call  it  1    It  seemed  a  man — or  the  shadow  of 

a  man — or  a  compound  of  man  and  shadow  !  Mr.  Tub  felt  bis 
hat  to  rise,  as  if  self-moved,  from  his  head, 

"  And  each  particular  hair  to  stand  on  end 
Like  quills  upon  the  fretful  porcupine." 

"  Be  composed,  my  good  Mr.  Tub,"  spake  out  the  apparition. 
"  You  have  nothing  to  fear  from  one  who  was  a  companion  and 
intimate  friend  of  your  father,  Epaphroditus  Tub.  Don't  you  re- 
member Shadrach  Paddle?  you  were  old  enough  to  have  known 
me  in  those  days.     Well,  never  mind  ;    we  are  all  in  hell  now, 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  353 

the  whole  mess  of  us — all  the  eighteen  poor  fellows  whose  bodies 
are  mouldering  under  that  stone  are  now  subjects  of  the  realm 
below.  When  I  interrupted  you,  you  were  about  to  say,  that 
though  our  country  withholds  from  us  the  honors  due  to  our 
achievements,  heaven  would  reward  our  patriotism  and  self-devo- 
tion !  He,  he,  he!  This  is  what  excited  my  mirth.  Bravery, 
philanthropy,  patriotism — these,  and  like  virtues,  go  for  nothing 
in  heaven  ;  all  its  favors  are  showered  upon  those  who  have  been 
born  again,  and  have  shaped  their  opinions  by  a  creed  :  and  in  the 
early  days  of  this  wilderness,  you  must  know,  we  were  innocent 
enough  of  overmuch  intelligence  on  these  subjects,  and  precious 
little  time  had  we  for  attention  to  them  at  any  rate.  We  are 
therefore  all  damned — every  one  of  us — whilst  Anthony  Pimp,  a 
rascal,  who  deserted  our  colony,  with  a  half-dozen  horses  which 
he  stole,  and  who,  to  obliterate  the  evidence  of  his  infamy,  sought 
to  effect  our  entire  destruction  by  guiding  the  Indians  to  our  sta- 
tion at  midnight — he,  I  say,  is  now  in  heaven,  having  got  some 
curious  kind  of  experience,  and  said  over  his  prayers  for  some  time 
before  his  death.  Well,  God  is  nowise  particular  about  the  moral 
qualities  of  his  elect !  You  are  aware,  Mr.  Tub,  that  your  mother, 
and  my  poor  wife,  Dolly  Paddle,  were  among  the  women  toma- 
hawked on  the  occasion.  1  found  them  both  in  hell  upon  my 
arrival,  (a  few  hours  after  their's,)  and  was  tolerably  well  content 
with  my  new  quarters,  hot  as  they  were,  when  I  found  there  my 
seventeen  brave  compatriots,  and  our  murdered  wives,  besides  a 
number  of  other  gallant  men  from  the  bloody  fields  of  Lexington 
and  Bunker  Hill.  One  soon  feels  at  home  anywhere  in  good 
society— and  believe  me,  my  dear  Triptolemus,  you  dwellers  in 
flesh  and  blood  have  no  adequate  conception  of  the  excellence  of 
the  society  of  the  world  below." 

Our  friend,  Mr.  Tub,  was  utterly  astounded  at  these  disclosures  ; 
his  astonishment,  together  with  the  familiar  manner  in  which  the 
goblin  addressed  him,  and  the  near  concern  he  had  in  the  matters 
revealed,  quite  got  the  better  of  his  fears,  and  emboldened  him  to 
hold  converse  with  the  dim  and  misty  outline  of  a  once  human 
being  then  before  him.  There  was  such  an  air  of  probability, 
withal,  about  the  matters  communicated,  that  the  thought  of  them 
caused  a  revulsion  throughout  his  whole  system.  His  poor  old 
father  and  mother  in  hell !    Alas  !  he  had  never  before  harbored  a 

Vol.  I.— 2  e  2 


354  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

thought  to  that  effect — and  yet,  what  more  possible  1  since,  as  he 
well  knew,  they  were  destitute  of  those  qualifications  which  are 
held  indispensable  to  salvation,  although  possessed  of  many  which 
rendered  them  useful  and  amiable  on  earth.  Such  was  also  the 
case  in  general  with  the  hardy  pioneers  of  the  west — coarse  in 
manners  and  in  speech,  and  wholly  ignorant  of,  and  indifferent 
about,  the  mysteries  of  the  christian  faith  ;  yet  frank-hearted  and 
hospitable,  and  reckless  of  hardship  and  danger,  when  responding 
to  the  calls  of  duty  or  humanity. 

"  Am  I  to  believe,  then,  Mr.  Paddle,"  the  elder  took  courage 
to  inquire,  "  that  you  are  really  a  damned  spirit — and  that  my 
honored  parents,  together  with  the  helpless  women  of  the  early 
settlement,  who  were  massacred,  and  the  gallant  men  who  died 
in  their  defence,  are  in  a  like  predicament  as  yourself]" 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  goblin,  "  you  are  to  believe  this,  and  more — 
I  announce  to  you  that  nineteen  twentieths  of  those  who  achieved 
the  liberties  of  your  country — whose  names  and  whose  deeds  are 
so  eulogized  in  fourth  of  July  orations — who  have  commanded 
your  armies  and  your  ships — who  have  poured  forth  their  souls,  in 
words  that  aroused  the  soul,  in  your  senate — yea,  who  have  occu- 
pied your  presidential  chair — such  men,  too,  (I  grant  them  to  have 
been)  as  were  never  surpassed,  perhaps  never  equalled  :  yet,  I 
tell  you  in  truth,  that  nineteen  twentieths  of  them  are  damned  ! 
He,  he,  he !  I  have  often  laughed  in  the  orator's  face  (invisible  to 
him)  as  dilating  upon  their  splendid  deeds,  he  has  pointed  to  hea- 
ven as  the  place  where  these  heroes  are  to  receive  the  meed  of 
their  services  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  right !  He,  he,  he !  Does 
the  orator  think  that  in  those  days  of  strife,  and  danger,  and  blood, 
these  gallant  fellows  took  time  to  concern  themselves  about  faith, 
and  the  new  birth  1  Not  much  did  old  Putnam,  I  trow,  nor  War- 
ren, nor  Montgomery,  nor  Gates,  nor  Marion,  nor  old  De  Kalb, 
nor  Green.  And,  to  come  to  later  times,  who  suspects  that  Law- 
rence, or  Decatur,  or  Jefferson,  or  Monroe,  or  Franklin,  were 
subjects  of  an  evangelical  faith,  and  of  regeneration  ?  And  it  has 
been  asserted  on  high  authority  of  even  the  great  Washington, 
that  although  he  gave  a  general  and  loose  assent  to  the  truth  of 
christianity,yet  he  undoubtedly  stopped  short  ofthe  mystical  degree 
of  the  new  birth;  and  with  all  his  unrivalled  virtues  I  am  sorry 
to  announce  But  you  bite  your  lip,  and  manifest  great  im- 


.BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  355 

patience,  my  friend  ;  well,  I  will  spare  you  then  the  pain  that  my 
disclosure  might  inflict.  Nevertheless,  I  can  assure  you  of  one 
thing,  viz.  that  hell  contains  a  large  majority  of  the  most  learned 
and  brilliant  men  that  have  been  born  into  the  world,  poets,  ora- 
tors, historians,  legislators,  patriots,  warriors,  statesmen,  priests, 
and  monarchs;  very  many  too  in  whose  praise  history  is  loud, 
and  many,  also,  whose  excellent  moral  precepts  have  formed  the 
elements  of  the  moral  code  for  millions  of  mankind." 

"  Alas  !  Mr.  Paddle,"  interrupted  our  friend  Triptolemus,  in  a 
tone  of  deep  dejection,  "  I  must  needs  admit  that  there  seems  to 
be  much  truth  in  the  matters  you  reveal,  and  the  more  so  as  they 
correspond  with  a  revelation  made  in  the  scriptures,  viz.,  that  '  not 
many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble 
are  called  ;'  and  we  see,  indeed,  that  it  is  even  so — but  few,  com- 
paratively, of  splendid  genius  or  attainments,  it  is  to  be  feared, 
concern  themselves  about  securing  an  interest  in  heavenly  bliss." 

"You  are  right,  my  friend  Triptolemus,  quite  right,"  rejoined 
the  goblin,  "and  I  will  inform  you  how  it  happens,  (for  as  you 
are  of  the  electa  it  is  permitted  you  to  be  informed  of  these  mat- 
ters.) In  all  countries  and  ages,  the  priests  (good  souls  !)  have 
found  it  easy  to  impress  upon  unlettered  and  unreflecting  men  the 
wholesome  truth,  that  the  gates  of  heaven  or  hell  will  be  opened 
to  them  in  eternity,  according  as  their  actions  have  been  good  or 
bad  in  time.  It  has  been  found  easy  also  to  make  the  same  classes 
believe,  that  good  actions  consist  of  prayers,  and  fasting,  and  a 
right  faith,  and  a  right  experience,  and  pious  alms,  tract  reading, 
attendance  at  church,  etc.,  which  all-important  matters  have  been 
neglected  by  too  many  of  bright  genius  and  enlarged  understand- 
ing, to  the  loss  of  their  immortal  souls  ;  for  they  have  usually 
thought,  that,  as  the  infinite  Being  is  above  being  personally  bene- 
fited by  their  performances,  they  were  serving  him  most  acceptably 
when  they  served  and  blest  mankind.  And  they  have  also  gene- 
rally persisted  in  the  absurd  notion  that  the  great  Jehovah  is 
entirely  too  good  and  wise  to  have  staked  the  interests  of  man  for 
eternity  on  the  precarious  contingencies  of  time  !  He,  he,  he  ! 
They  have  thought  better  of  their  Creator  than  facts  have  war- 
ranted— they  have  robed  his  character  in  their  highest  conceptions 
of  excellence — he,  he  ! — by  the  light  of  the  fires  of  hell  they  are 
enabled  to  correct  these  crude  fallacies ;  they  there  learn  to  com- 


356  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

prehend  the  seeming  paradox,  that  unbounded  love  can  burn 
without  pity,  without  end — and  therefore,  without  other  object 
than  revenge — unnumbered  myriads  of  helpless  beings,  who  owe 
their  existence  to  his  creative  power! 

"Thus  it  has  happened  that  the  most  brilliant,  and  (in  the 
world's  estimation)  the  most  excellent  and  exalted  of  mankind 
have,  by  the  dim  and  deceptive  light  of  philosophy,  or  the  bewil- 
dering glare  of  genius,  blundered  their  way  down  to  the  infernal 
pit ;  and  they  carried  with  them  so  many  virtues  and  accomplish- 
ments, that,  as  I  have  said  before,  the  world  of  woe  can  boast  a 
most  delectable  society,  and  numerous  are  our  occupations  and 
amusements  to  divert  our  attention  from  the  uncomfortable  heat 
of  the  climate.  Blind  Homer,  the  father  of  song — Virgil,  his 
most  gifted  disciple — the  versatile  Shakspeare — Horace,  Ovid, 
Euripides,  Juvenal,  Dryden,  Ben  Johnson,  Oiway,  Collins, 
Cowley,  Rowe,  and  nearly  the  whole  fraternity  of  bards,  more 
especially  those  who  have  employed  their  poetic  talent  in  the  pro- 
fane business  of  writing  plays — these  amuse  us  by  reciting  and 
explaining  their  old  productions,  or  composing  new  ones.  We 
have  lectures  on  history,  delivered  by  Herodotus,  Tacitus,  Xeno- 
phon,  Sallust,  Gibbon,  Hume,  Clarendon,  and  others.  Socrates 
(who  was  damned  for  sacrificing  a  cock  lo^Esculapius,  as  his 
last  act  in  life,)  Cato,  Solon,  Pythagoras,  Zeno,  Diogenes,  Aris- 
totle, Athenagoras,  and  other  heathen  sages,  edify  us  with  their 
lessons  in  philosophy.  We  have  also  most  splendid  orations  on 
law,  politics,  physic,  the  different  branches  of  physical  science, 
language,  chymistry,  and  even  divinity — for  we  are  not  without 
an  ample  complement  of  theological  professors  in  hell.  Our  own 
Franklin  lectures  to  us  on  economy,  electricity,  and  other  matters ; 
and  we  have  many  noble  fellows,  of  ancient  and  modern  times, 
including  Demosthenes,  Cicero,  Themistocles,Alcibiades,  Hanni- 
ble,  Junius  Brutus,  and  Marcus  Brutus,  (besides  many  who  signed 
the  declaration  of  your  nation's  independence,)  who  devoted  them- 
selves, soul  and  body,  to  the  interests  of  their  respective  countries, 
but  neglected,  alas  for  them  !  in  the  heat  of  their  enlarged  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  man,  to  commit  their  creeds,  and  obtain  an  orthodox 
faith  and  experience  toward  God" 

A  slight  noise  here  drew  off  the  elder's  attention,  for  a  moment, 
in  an  opposite  direction,  and  on  his  resuming  it,  Mr.  Shadrach 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  357 

Paddle  had  disappeared — nothing  was  to  be  seen  in  the  place  he 
had  occupied,  but  a  faint  line  of  mist !  The  elder  rubbed  his  eyes, 
and  strained  his  vision  to  the  utmost,  but  to  no  effect ;  he  began 
at  length  to  doubt  whether  his  senses  had  not  been  deceiving  him 
as  to  the  apparition  he  thought  he  had  seen,  and  the  conversa- 
tion he  supposed  he  had  maintained  with  it !  "  However,"  thought 
he,  "  if  imagination  has  been  deceiving  my  eyes  and  ears  all  this 
while,  I  am  much  obliged  to  it,  nevertheless,  for  the  wholesome 
facts  it  has  brought  home  to  my  reflection,  of  which  I  have  never 
seriously  thought  before.  Gracious  God  !  what  selfish  beings  we 
are !  How  comfortably  we  can  yield  our  faith  to  the  dark  and 
dreadful  dogma  of  unending  woe,  without  reflecting  how  nearl)' 
we  ourselves  must  necessarily  be  concerned  in  its  realities,  (how- 
ever secure  our  title  to  eternal  bliss  my  be,)  on  account  of  friends 
and  kindred,  and  numberless  other  of  our  fellow  beings,  whom, 
for  their  virtues,  splendid  parts,  or  noble  exertions  and  sacrifices 
in  the  common  cause  of  man,  we  have  been  taught  to  love  and 
admire  !  I  must  noi  pursue  this  train  of  thought,  though,  or  it  will 
cause  my  carnal  judgment  to  quarrel  with  my  creed — so  I  must 
strive,  with  divine  assistance,  to  forget  what  has  passed,  since, 
after  all,  it  may  be  a  mere  temptation  from  the  devil." 


CHAPTER  HI. 

"  Well,  well !  Dorothy  Tub,  my  dear,  this  world  we  live  in  is  a 
mighty  large  one!  for  the  '  Old  Dominion'  of  itself  is  a  pretty  big 
piece  of  ground  :  but,  my  stars  !  it  makes  a  mighty  little  show  on 
this  map  !  Well,  then,  there's  Pennsylvania,  which  is  nearly  as 
large,  and  the  Empire  state,  and  Maryland,  and  Jersey,  and  all  the 
eastern,  all  the  western,  and  all  the  southern  states,  besides  the 
vast  tract  of  uninhabited  country  this  side  of  the  Rocky  mountains, 
and  all  that  lies  beyond — and  yet,  there's  the  country  between 
our  national  territory  and  the  polar  circle,  on  the  north,  and  Texas 
and  Mexico,  on  the  south — and  when  we  have  estimated  all  this, 
we  have  got  less  than  a  fifth  part  of  the  solid  portion  of  our  earth  ! 
Only  think,  Dorothy  Tub  !"  Such  were  the  profound  specula- 
tions of  our  old  friend  Triptolemus,  as,  snugly  seated  in  his  elbow 


358  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

chair  one  night,  he  was  doubly  occupied  in  toasting  his  feet  by 
the  fire,  and  in  perusing  a  map  of  the  globe.  His  spouse,  Doro- 
thy, sate  (or  did  a  few  minutes  before)  in  another  easy  chair,  the 
fellow  to  that  which  contained  the  rotund  person  of  the  elder  ;  but 
on  his  looking  up  from  his  studies,  in  the  expectation  of  a  response 
to  his  ejaculations  about  the  magnitude  of  the  earth,  her  chair  was 
evacuated — no  Dorothy  Tub  was  there — nor  had  the  elder  any 
right  to  expect  her  there,  for  I  am  sure  she  had  been  quite  audibly 
complaining  for  some  time,  and  predicting  a  change  of  weather, 
from  the  uneasy  condition  of  her  corns  and  rheumatiz ,-  but  Mr. 
Tub  had  been  too  profoundly  engaged  to  hear  any  of  this,  (a  too 
common  case  with  the  lords  of  creation,  when  their  loving  ribs  are 
detailing  their  aches  and  pains ;)  so  Mrs.  Dorothy  Tub  finding  no 
response  from  her  husband  touching  these  interesting  matters,  had 
betaken  herself  to  her  bed  in  a  huff. 

"  A  monstrous  big  world  !"  exclaimed  the  elder,  continuing  his 
erudite  cogitations  ;  "  it  would  take  a  long-lived  man  his  whole 
life  to  walk  over  it,  I  guess,  for  there's  South  America,  and  Af- 
rica, and  Europe,  and  Australia,  and  the  islands — and  yet,  with 
all  these,  full  three  fourths  of  the  earth's  surface,  I  perceive,  is 
covered  with  water.  How  vast  a  conception  it  requires,  to  em- 
brace the  idea  of  such  magnitude  !     Why,  I" 

Here  the  giggle  of  Shadrach  Paddle  interrupted  his  specula- 
tions, as  upon  a  former  occasion.  "  He,  he,  he,  he  !"  And  upon 
the  elder's  looking  up,  there  sat  that  queer  personage,  most  pro- 
fanely ensconced  in  Mrs.  Tub's  easy  chair,  and  grinning  in  his 
face.  "  He,  he,  he !  Your  world,  that  you  think  so  large,  my 
good  Triptolemus,  is  no  bigger  than  a  hazelnut  as  compared  with 
hell !"  exclaimed  the  goblin.  "  Why,  my  dear  fellow,  a  mo- 
ment's reflection  will  suffice  to  convince  you  of  this  fact;  for  what 
is  the  earth's  population  l  It  is  variously  computed  at  from  seven 
to  twelve  hundred  millions.  I  will  take  ten  hundred  millions  as  a 
medial  estimate  ;  this  number  of  human  beings  is  swept  into  eter- 
nity and  renewed  about  every  twenty-five  years,  and  for  all  these 
heaven  and  hell  are  the  only  receptacles.  And  what  proportion  of 
these  do  you  think  hell  receives  1  I  know  right  well,  as  I  have  been 
there  for  some  time,  and  have  paid  some  attention  to  its  statistics  j 
but  I  will  not  ask  you  to  take  the  answer  on  the  faith  of  a  damned 
spirit ;  you  shall  have  it  on  the  faith  of  figures,  within  your  own 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  359 

power  to  compute.  Of  the  ten  hundred  millions  of  human  beings 
on  the  earth,  but  two  hundred  millions  are  comprised  within  Chris- 
tendom ;  of  these,  you  must  be  aware,  not  more  than  one  sixteenth 
part  are  saved — for  you  must  be  convinced,  from  a  survey  of 
society  around  you,  that  not  more  than  one  out  of  sixteen  are 
experimentally  and  savingly  christians.  One  sixteenth  part  of 
two  hundred  millions  is  twelve  and  a  half  millions ;  and  this  (on 
the  most  liberal  allowance)  is  the  proportion  of  nominal  chris- 
tians saved  each  twenty-five  years,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  and  a  half  millions  is  the  proportion  damned  ! 

"  As  to  the  Jewish,  Mahometan,  and  pagan  populations,  making 
eight  hundred  millions,  it  is  by  a  large  majority  of  christians  de- 
nied that  any  are  saved — but  by  the  minority  it  is  supposed,  that 
salvation  is  possible  to  such  of  these  classes  as  make  a  right  im- 
provement of  the  advantages  which  they  possess.  Let  us  then 
allow,  a  thirty-second  part  of  these  will  get  to  heaven — a  proportion 
equal  to  one  half  of  those  saved  within  Christendom.  A  thirty- 
second  part  of  eight  hundred  millions,  is  twenty-five  millions ; 
and  this  is  the  ratio  which  get  to  heaven,  of  these  classes,  every 
twenty-five  years :  seven  hundred  and  seventy-five  millions  are 
the  ratio  which  sink  to  hell !  Now  add  together  the  numbers 
saved  during  each  generation  out  of  the  entire  human  race — they 
amount  to  thirty-seven  and  a  half  millions ;  and  the  aggregate  of 
the  numbers  damned  within  the  same  time  is  nine  hundred  and 
sixty-two  and  a  half  millions  ! 

"  Your  world,  Mr.  Tub,  taking  the  Mosaic  history  to  be  true, 
and  following  the  popular  chronology,  has  subsisted  for  six 
thousand  years,  which,  divided  by  twenty-five,  (the  estimated 
length  of  a  generation,)  gives  two  hundred  and  forty  as  th»  num- 
ber of  generations  of  man  since  time  began ;  and  (allowing  the 
relative  numbers  of  the  redeemed  and  the  lost  to  have  been  from  the 
first  what  they  now  are)  then,  my  d'ear  Triptolemus,  since  time 
begun,  the  portals  of  hell  have  opened  to  two  hundred  and  forty 
times  nine  hundred  and  sixty-two  and  a  half  millions  of  human 
souls  !" 

"  Mr.  Paddle,  you  astound  me  !"  exclaimed  elder  Tub. 

"  Pardon  me,"  exclaimed  the  goblin,  "  I  am  not  done  yet.  I 
have,  in  my  computation,  been  far  more  liberal  on  the  side  of  sal- 
vation than  facts  will  warrant — I  have  allowed  the  same  proportion 


360  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

to  have  gone  to  heaven  before  the  introduction  of  Christianity, 
as  since — whereas  the  whole  antediluvian  world  that  were 
drowned  by  the  flood,  went  to  hell  en  masse  !  The  gates  of  per- 
dition swung  open,  on  that  occasion,  to  their  utmost  width,  and  as 
the  bard  Milton  has  sung,  '  grated  harsh  thunder.'  Moreover,  all 
the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  damned,  as  were  also 
the  populations  of  Babylon,  Idumea,  Tyre,  Sidon,  Capernaum — 
the  first  born  of  Egypt  which  perished  in  the  last  plague — the 
hundred  and  eighty  thousand  of  Senacherib's  army  which  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  destroyed  in  one  night — the  million  and  a  half 
of  Jews  slain  during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  etc.,  etc.  In  full  ten 
thousand  instances,  in  the  progress  of  time,  have  numerous  masses 
of  undying  spirits  thus  sunk  down  to  the  realm  of  the  damned — but 
the  world  of  bliss  meanwhile  has  received  no  such  accessions  ! 
In  addition,  we  must  take  into  the  account,  that  full  twelve  cen- 
turies of  almost  utter  moral  darkness  intervened  between  the 
primitive  ages  of  the  church  and  the  time  of  the  reformation  ;  and 
during  all  this  season  the  successive  generations  of  mankind  were 
consigned,  with  but  here  and  there  an  exception,  to  everlasting 
woe  !  He,  he  !  I  have  oft  been  told  in  hell,  (by  old  inhabitants 
of  the  place,)  of  the  ecstacies  occasioned  there  from  time  to  time 
by  these  numerous  arrivals — these  are  the  festival  seasons  of  the 
world  below.  He,  he,  he  !  they  are  regarded  as  most  signal  tri- 
umphs over  the  plans  and  efforts  of  heaven.  Our  sovereign  prince, 
Beelzebub,  issues  his  mandate  for  a  special  illumination  in  hell  on 
these  occasions,  for  we  have  the  material  for  illumination  in  great 
plenty,  you  are  aware,  and  all  at  the  cost  of  our  Omnipotent  foe. 
He,  he,  he,  he  !  Our  prince  has  hopes  of  an  entire  and  total  victory 
eventually  !" — 

"  You  overwhelm  me,  Mr.  Paddle ! ! !"  again  interrupted  the 
elder 

"Patience,  my  good  Triptolemus,"  resumed  the  goblin,  "your 
conceptions  are  not  yet  extended  to  the  hundred  millionth  part  of 
hell's  capacity  ;  we  have  been  confining  our  attention  to  the  ac- 
cessions to  its  population  from  this  earth  alone ;  but  we  are  to 
remember  that  there  was  a  numerous  lapse/rom  heaven  before  the 
earth  was  formed  :  it  would  astonish  you,  Mr.  Tub,  to  be  told  of 
the  vast  numbers  comprised  in  that  revolt.  Well,  subsequent  to 
this,  in  the  four  thousandth  year  of  the  world,  (as  you  may  read 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  361 

in  your  sacred  oracles,  Revelation  xii. — your  bible  is  more  read  in 
hell  than  on  earth,)  there  was  another  commotion  in  heaven,  which 
resulted  in  the  casting  out  from  thence  one  third  part  of  the  stars, 
or  angels  !  Now  allowing  an  equal  proportion  to  have  been 
ejected  in  the  first  revolt,  heaven,  you  perceive,  must  contain  but 
a  small  moiety  of  its  original  inhabitants  ! — and  such  being  the  case 
with  regard  to  that  place,  which  is  the  immediate  seat  of  Jeho- 
vah's throne,  how  many  myriads  upon  myriads  of  immortal  intel- 
ligences, think  you,  have  fallen  from  the  unnumbered  spheres 
which  revolve  in  the  immensity  of  space?" 

"  Hold  !  Mr.  Paddle !"  exclaimed  the  utterly  bewildered  Mr. 
Tub  ;  "  I  sink  beneath  the  conception !  The  sun  itself,  which  in 
all  probability  is  an  inhabited  sphere,  is  a  million  times  larger 
than  our  earth,  and  all  the  stars  are  held  to  be  suns  of  equal  mag- 
nitude, and  the  centre  to  separate  systems  of  worlds  !  It  does, 
indeed,  seem  probable  also,  that  these  are  all  peopled  with  intelli- 
gent beings,  equally  responsible,  and  liable  to  incur  a  doom  of 
endless  ruin  as  ourselves  !  Gracious  God  !  What  must  indeed 
be  the  capacity  of  that  fiery  world  of  despair,  which  is  the  recep- 
tacle for  these  innumerable  lapsed  spirits  !" 

"  What  must  it  be,  sure  enough  1  Why  I've  already  told  you, 
Mr.  Tub,  he,  he,  he !"  rejoined  the  grinning  fiend,  "  that  your 
earth  is  a  mere  hazelnut  in  comparison  to  it.  Have  you  never 
read  the  description  of  it  in  your  oracles  1  *  For  Tophet  is  ordained 
of  old ;  yea,  for  the  king  it  is  prepared  :  he  hath  made  it  deep 
and  large ;  the  pile  thereof  is  fire  and  much  wood  ;  the  breath  of 
the  Lord,  like  a  stream  of  brimstone,  doth  kindle  it.'  Why  the 
capacity  of  hell  is  such,  that  the  Syracusan  mathematician,  Ar- 
chimedes, has  been  employed  in  an  active  survey  of  it  ever  since 
his  arrival  there ;  and  I  heard  him  say,  a  little  time  since,  that  as 
many  more  thousands  of  years  must  elapse  ere  his  survey  is  com- 
pleted— for,  unlike  the  earth,  and  the  other  planetary  bodies,  hell 
cannot  be  measured  by  astronomical  observations.  The  Almighty 
architect  of  the  world  of  sufiering  knew  full  well,  from  the  first,  for 
how  many  myriads  of  his  offspring  he  was  preparing  this  burning 
abode,  and  he  extended  its  domain  accordingly. 

"  Blind  Homer  has  described  Thebes  as  containing  a  hundred 
gates.  Hell  has  more  than  a  hundred  thousand.  You  will  readily 
believe  this,  Mr.  Tub,  when  you  reflect  on  the  number  and  the  fre- 

VoL.  I— 2  F  No.  16. 


362  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

quency  of  the  arrivals  to  it  from  earth  alone.  Let  me  see— it  is  com- 
puted that  the  generations  of  man  die,  at  the  rate  of  one  to  every 
second  of  time  ! — sixty  every  minute ! — three  thousand  six  hundred 
every  hour ! — eighty-six  thousand  four  hundred  every  twenty-four 
hours  !  Conceive,  my  dear  Triptolemus,  with  what  velocity  the 
gates  of  woe  must  swing  upon  their  hinges,  to  give  admission  to 
spirits  at  this  rapid  rate !  If  hell  had  but  one  portal,  the  arrivals 
to  it  from  this  earth  alone  would  keep  it  opening  and  shutting  with 
the  speed  of  light ! 

"  I  am  much  amused  betimes  by  the  sage  computations  of  some 
of  your  modern  theologians,  who,  finding  the  wholesome  and 
venerable  dogma  of  endless  damnation  to  be  getting  out  of  fashion 
among  men,  employ  their  ingenuity  in  so  softening  it,  as  to  bring 
it  within  the  pale  of  benevolence.  He,  he,  he  !  They  try  to  make 
out  that  the  number  of  the  lost,  as  compared  with  that  of  the  saved 
of  mankind,  will  be  but  as  the  proportion  of  penitentiary  convicts 
to  the  bulk  of  society  !  He,  he  !  They  come,  by  a  marvellously 
curious  process  of  enumeration,  to  this  result.  '  First  (say  they) 
all  who  die  in  infancy,  are  saved ;  then,  all  the  heathen  who  im- 
prove their  natural  advantages  aright ;  then  again,  there  is  to 
come  a  Millennium,  a  thousand  years'  reign  on  the  earth,  during 
which,  all  are  to  be  righteous' — and  this  thousand  years  may 
mean — he,  he,  he  ! — mark,  it  may  mean,  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  thousand  times  the  term  which  is  said  !  And  so,  by  this  hocus 
pocus  process  of  computation,  it  is  made  out,  that  the  number  of 
the  saved  will  greatly  exceed  that  of  the  lost !  He,  he  !  how  stu- 
pidly blind  you  mortals  are  when  you  have  a  party  purpose  to 
eiFect !  Why  !  though  a  goblin  of  the  pit,  I  can  quote  you  scrip- 
ture to  better  purpose.  Now  hear  the  following,  and  judge  whether 
all  mankind  are  to  be  righteous  during  the  Millennium.  'And 
when  the  thousand  years  are  expired,  Satan  shall  be  loosed  out  of 
his  prison,  and  shall  go  out  to  deceive  the  nations  which  are  in 
the  four  quarters  of  the  earth,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them 
together  to  battle  ;  the  number  of  whom  is  as  the  sand  of  the  sea. 
And  they  went  up  on  the  breadth  of  the  earth,  and  compassed  the 
camp  of  the  saints  about,  and  the  beloved  city  :  and  fire  came 
down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  and  devoured  them.' 

"  You  see,  then,  my  dear  Triptolemus,  that  even  at  that  boasted 
era  of  Messiah's  reign,  a  multitude,  equalling  in  number  the  sands 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  363 

of  the  sea,  are  to  be  added  to  the  population  of  hell.  He,  he,  he, 
he !  This  will  be  another  jubilee  for  us.  Why,  the  elect  in  your 
younger  days,  Mr.  Tub,  would  have  scouted  as  an  impious  heresy 
the  idea,  that  more  will  be  saved  than  damned  :  it  was  the  essence 
of  their  comfort  to  believe,  that  heaven  is  a  snug  little  walled 
city,  with  jasper  gates,  and  streets  of  gold,  where  they  should 
have  nothing  to  do,  to  all  eternity,  but  to  sit  on  great  benches  and 
sing  psalms ;  and  the  company  of  the  place  was  to  be  a  number 
'  so  fixed  and  definite  as  to  be  incapable  of  increase  or  diminu- 
tion.' Great  comfort  took  they,  as  you,  Mr.  Tub,  may  remember, 
in  singing  that  metrical  paraphrase  of  the  text  about  the  broad  and 
narrow  way : 

*  Broad  is  the  road  that  leads  to  death, 

And  thousands  flock  together  there ; 
But  wisdom  shows  a  narrow  path, 

With  here  and  there  a  traveler.' 

It  was  one  saved,  to  a  thousand  damned, in  those  good  old  times; 
but  now — he,  he,  he ! — the  orthodoxy  of  your  day  is  heels  upper- 
most, Mr.  Tub  !  In  times  not  long  past  it  was  thought,  that  not  a 
Jew,  nor  a  Mahometan,  nor  a  pagan,  nor  an  infant,  (except  of 
elect  parents,  nor  then,  except  baptized,)  nor  a  unitarian,  nor 
socinian,  nor  methodist,  nor  papist,  would  get  to  heaven  !  But 
of  late — he,  he,  he  ! — either  heaven  has  grown  larger,  or  the  gate- 
keeper has  become  remiss  in  examining  the  passports  ;  for  by  a 
late  census  of  the  place,  these  wise-heads  have  discovered,  that  its 
inhabitants  outnumber  those  of  hell,  by  as  much  as  the  honest 
part  of  the  earth's  community  outnumber  the  criminal  portion  in 
the  penitentiaries  ! ! !     He,  he,  he,  he  !" 

How  long  the  impious  goblin,  Paddle,  would  have  continued  his 
profane  cachinnations,  had  no  interruption  occurred,  I  take  it  not 
on  me  to  say  ;  but  Dorothy  Tub,  finding  no  ease  to  her  corns  and 
rheumatiz  while  alone  in  her  cold  bed,  (it's  a  pity  she  had'nt 
thought  of  a  warming  pan  !)  came  down  to  try  the  virtues  of  the 
fire  and  some  yarh  tea.  To  the  utter  astonishment  of  the  elder, 
her  chair  was  vacant,  and   in  the  precise  situation  in  which  she 

had  left  it  about  an  hour  before  !    Mr.  Paddle  had  made  his  exit 

whether  up  the  chimney,  or,  like  a  fairy  queen  of  old,  through  the 
keyhole — or  whether  he  had  dissolved  himself  into  mist,  as  upon 
a.  former  occasion,  (for  the  elder  did  fancy  that  the  atmosphere  of 


364  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

the  room  was  somewhat  hazy,)  is  more  than  can  be  ascertained'. 
However,  it  was  deemed  most  prudent  to  keep  the  matter  whisht 
from  Mrs.  Tub,  rather  than  to  add  the  hysterics  to  her  chapter  of 
ailments.  And,  besides,  the  elder  was  not  clear  in  his  own  mind 
(as  before)  whether  the  whole  were  not  a  freak  of  the  fancy.  So, 
having  ministered  to  Dorothy  the  assistance,  which  every  ailing 
spouse  has  a  right  to  expect  from  her  helpmate,  he  betook  him- 
self to  his  couch. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

"  He,  he,  he !  my  old  friend  Tub — good  evening  to  you !"  Thus 
unceremoniously  was  the  good  elder  accosted  as  he  rode  toward 
home  one  misty  night,  by  that  audacious  goblin,  Paddle,  whom 
he  suddenly  found  by  his  side,  mounted  on  a  horse  which  kept 
even  pace  with  his  own.  "  Let  me  see,"  continued  the  fiend,  "I 
told  you,  in  our  former  interviews,  of  the  immense  magnitude  of  the 
world  below,  and  of  the  respectability  of  its. society — on  which 
important  topics  mortals  are  inclined  to  bestow  but  little  reflec- 
tion :  there  are  also  other  matters  pertaining  to  the  place  and  its 
inhabitants,-  concerning  which  their  notions  are  very  crude  and 
contradictory.  They  are  apt  to  represent  our  prince,  Beelzebub, 
as  having  a  cloven  foot,  which  it  is  not  in  his  power  to  conceal ! 
He,  he,  he  !  But  Dutch  christians,  with  better  sense,  generally 
agree  in  assigning  him  a  horse''s  hoof!  I  say,  with  better  sense, 
for  they  thus  very  properly  place  him  amongst  unclean  beasts— 
whereas,  with  a  parted  hoof,  he  is  an  eatable  animal,  according  to 
the  Mosaic  code — he,  he  ! 

"They  represent,  too,  that  the  devil  is  chained  down,  and  con- 
fined in  the  burning  lake ;  and  yet,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  is 
perpetrating  all  sorts  of  mischief  all  over  the  world  !  Your  divine 
versifier.  Watts,  in  describing  hell,  thus  alludes  to  him : 

*  There  Satan,  the  first  sinner,  lies, 

And  roars,  and  biles  his  iron  bands ; 
In  vain  the  rebel  strives  to  rise, 

Crush'd  with  the  weight  of  both  thy  hands.' 

From  which,  it  would  seem,  that  he  is  kept  down  under  the  fire» 
by  an  express  exertion  of  Omnipotence.     Nevertheless,  he  is  M 


BY  A   DAMNED  SPIRIT.  365 

the  same  time  perfectly  ai  larae,  '  going  to  and  fro  in  the  earth, 
and  walking  up  and  down  in  ii  !'  He  is  in  Europe,  and  Asia,  and 
Africa,  and  America,  and  Australasia,  and  in  the  islands  of  the 
South  sea — assuming  all  s.-rts  of  forms  and  colors,  and  tempting 
a  thousand  different  persons  to  a  thousand  different  modes  of  sin- 
ning !  He,  he,  he  !  A  most  puissant  devil  is  our  mighty  prince 
Beelzehub  !  It  is  gravely  put  forth  by  your  notorious  commenta- 
tor, Clarke,  that  it  was  probably  he  who  raised  the  tempest  about 
the  vessel  in  which  Christ  vind  his  disciples  were  sailing,  with 
the  view  of  drowning/  them  all  together,  and  so  quashing  the 
gospel  scheme  in  its  beginning !  A  most  shrewd  design,  it  must 
be  owned  ;  but  surely,  our  prince  could  not  have  so  far  taken 
leave  of  his  wits  as  to  hope  anything  from  a  tempest  which  he 
knew  Messiah  had  power  to  calm  !  He,  he  !  The  devil  may  pro- 
perly enough  be  taken  for  a  knave  all  over  the  world  ;  but  nobody 
mistrusts  him  for  a  fool  !  No,  no,  not  a  fool,  for  he  has  outwitted 
Omniscience  !  he  has  foiled  all  the  plans  and  purposes  of  heaven  ! 
When  he  had  seduced  from  their  purity  the  first  human  pair,  he 
was  told  by  Jehovah  that  his  head  should  be  bruised.  He,  he  ! 
So  far  from  it,  he  has  been  receiving  constant  accessions  to  the 
number  of  his  subjects  ever  since ;  and  over  these  he  is  to  have 
dominion  to  eternity  !  He  would  have  gained  infinitely  less,  had 
Jehovah  damned  the  first  couple,  instead  of  permitting  them  to 
live,  and  propagate  unnumbered  millions  of  their  race  for  hell  ! 
It  was  poor  economy  in  God  to  sacrifice  his  Son  for  the  world's 
redemption,  when  he  knew  that  the  devil  would  contrive  to  profit 
by  the  scheme  much  more  largely  than  himself! 

*'  And  pray,  my  good  friend  Tub,  why  enters  it  not  into  the 
sapient  heads  of  you  mortals,  that,  as  Satan  found  it  so  easy  to 
journey  from  hell  to  your  world,  other  peopled  spheres  may 
be  equally  accessible  to  him  1  The  station  of  your  earth  is  scarcely 
midway  between  the  sun  and  the  Georgium  Sidus,  and  is  there- 
fore no  nearer  a  neighbor  to  hell  than  is  other  planets  in  the 
system.  Now  the  truth  is,  that  our  prince  is  a  free  and  privi- 
ledged  commoner  of  creation,  and  he  is  anything  but  slack  in 
improving  his  opportunities  to  the  advancement  of  his  own  em- 
pire ;  hence  he  is  to  be  found  every  where,  and  at  the  season  most 
opportune  for  his  interests  :  no  place,  nor  presence,  is  sacred  from 
his  intrusions — he,  he !  he  goes  most  regularly  to  church,  with 

Vol.  I.— 2  f  2 


366  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

God's  people,  as  you  may  read  in  the  book  of  Job,  and  even  into 
the  pulpit  goeth  he,  in  company  with  the  preacher.  When  Whit- 
field was  informed,  at  the  foot  of  the  pulpit  stairs,  that  he  had 
delivered  himself  of  a  most  admirable  sermon,  he  replied,  that 
the  devil  had  so  told  him  before  ;  and  there  is  undoubted  matter 
of  fact  in  the  quaint  couplet  of  the  old  divine,  that 

There's  nowhere  found  a  house  of  prayer, 
But  Satan  hath  an  altar  there.' 

"  I  heard  him  relate,  not  long  since,  to  the  great  amusement  of 
his  infernal  subjects,  that  he  had  that  day  stept  into  a  church  just 
in  time  to  prevent  the  conversion  of  a  score  of  souls  !  It  was  a  time 
of  excitement  in  the  church — a  score  of  persons  had  occupied  the 
mourner' s  seats — some  half  a  dozen  preachers  were  present,  besides 
about  twice  the  number  of  subaltern  ecclesiastics,  who  glided,  like 
ghosts  in  kid  slippers,  up  and  down  the  aisles,  peering  about  for 
such  of  the  female  auditors  as  were  weeping  or  looking  serious  ; 
the  fears  of  the  congregation  had  been  wrought  upon  to  the  utmost, 
a  death-like  silence  prevailed,  only  occasionally  broken  by  the  loud 
and  hollow  whispers  of  the  ecclesiastics,  '  God — is  here' ! — which 
sent  a  thrill  through  the  whole  house.  At  this  interesting  crisis, 
the  devil  (who  had  been  also  peering  about  for  some  work  in  his 
line)  found  a  large  dog  quietly  snoozing  under  one  of  the  benches ; 
he  forthwith  pinched  his  tail — the  dog  set  up  a  how^l,  and  those 
near  fell  to  kicking  and  caning  him  out  of  the  church  :  in  his  flight 
he  unfortunately  tript  up  a  deacon,  who  sprawled  his  full  length 
in  the  aisle.  He,  he,  he  ! — there  were  many  in  the  congregation 
whose  risible  muscles  were  not  proof  against  all  this,  and  an  ob- 
streperous laugh  ensued  !  Thus  was  that  farce  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion."  

"  Hold  !  hold,  there,  Mr.  Paddle  !"  interrupted  the  elder.  «  I 
won't  allow  your  tongue  to  run  gallop  at  such  a  rate ;  for  the 
salvation  of  the  elect  is  not  to  be  thwarted  by  such  chances  as 
you  have  related,  since  it  has  been  fixed  from  eternity,  in  a  com- 
pact between  the  persons  of  the  adorable  trinity — in  a  *  covenant, 
ordered  in  all  things  and  sure  ;'  and  therefore" 

"Pooh!  pooh!"  abruptly  rejoined  the  goblin.  "I  will  not 
waste  breath  in  arguing  election  and  reprobation  with  you,  Mr. 
Tub.  I  speak  from  actual  knowledge  when  I  say,  that  the 
merest  accidents  in  the  world   have  determined  the   final   and 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  367 

eternal  fates  of  thousands  !  There  was  Toby  Tibbins,  for  example, 
an  intimate  acquaintance  of  mine  and  your  father's,  on  earth ;  he 
was  convicted  of  being  a  tory  spy,  and  sentenced  to  be  hung. 
While  in  confinement,  Toby  became  a  penitent,  confessed  all  his 
sins,  and  with  the  aid  of  our  company's  chaplain,  he  obtained  the 
favor  of  God.  Thus  Toby  got  all  his  scriptural  concerns  into  a 
right  trim  for  heaven  ;  but,  unfortunately  for  his  soul,  he  was  par- 
doned under  the  gallows :  he  relapsed  into  his  former  rogueries, 
and  has  been  a  companion  with  me  in  hell  for  the  last  ten  years ! 

"There  was  also  Obadiah  Snubbs,  the  undoubted  cause  of 
whose  damnation  was,  that  his  nose  was  set  too  far  on  one  side 
of  his  face.  I  knew  Mr.  Snubbs  well,  and  can  certify  that  he 
was  soundly  converted  some  half-dozen  times ;  but  that  nose  of 
his  was  a  most  serious  stumbling-block  to  him — it  involved  him 
in  constant  broils,  to  the  great  detriment  of  his  spiritual  health. 
He  at  length  found  it  necessary,  for  the  safety  of  his  soul,  to 
remove  into  this  western  region,  (then  a  wilderness,)  where  he 
supposed  his  nose  would  escape  the  observation  and  ridicule  which 
it  had  attracted  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  ;  so  he  squatted 
in  a  cabin  near  the  mouth  of  Grave  creek,  where  there  were  but 
four  or  five  widely  scattered  settlers.  In  this  retirement,  he 
managed  to  keep  his  soul's  affairs  in  a  safe  condition  for  some 
time;  but,  unfortunately  for  him,  having  occasion  to  go  to  Fort 
Wheeling  one  day  to  buy  stores,  a  fellow  there  took  the  liberty 
to  remark  upon  the  awry  posture  of  his  proboscis — which  so  en- 
raged my  friend  Obadiah,  that,  (forgetting  his  conversion)  he 
drew  his  knife  on  his  tormentor,  and  was  killed  in  the  quarrel. — 
He,  he !  Poor  Snubbs  would  have  now  been  in  heaven  but  for 
his  nose ! 

"  Even  I  myself,  Mr.  Tub,  he,  he,  he  !  came  very  near  slipping 
in  amongst  the  elect  at  one  time  !  I  should  have  made  it  out,  I 
believe,  had  I  not  possessed  an  inordinate  turn  for  whatever  was 
comical  ;  and  the  devil  finding  this  out,  took  care  always  to  put 
funny  thoughts  into  my  head  when  I  was  saying  my  prayers — 
he,  he ! 

"  Another  stumbling-block  with  me,  when  on  earth,  was,  that 
our  preachers,  in  their  printed  and  pulpit  descriptions,  used  so  to 
confound  God  and  the  devil,  that,  for  the  life  of  me,  I  could  scarcely 
tell  which  was  which.     Did  you  ever,  Mr.  Tub,  read  old  Jona- 


368  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

than  Edwards  ?  If  so,  you  will  understand  what  I  mean.  Divines 
in  those  days  used  to  tell  how  much  it  would  be  to  the  glory  of 
God  to  burn  the  sinner — how  much  he  would  mock,  and  tantalize 
him,  and  laugh  at  his  miseries ;  and  how  the  saints  themselves 
would  unite  with  the  deity  in  this  cruel  business  !  I  took  up  a 
volume  of  sermons  one  day,  by  Dr.  Benson,  (who  published  a 
commentary  on  the  bible ;)  among  them  was  one  from  the  text, 
*  If  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  thou  art  there.'  On  which  the  Doctor 
assumed,  that  God  is  personally  present  in  the  world  of  suffering. 
And  for  what  purpose,  think  you  1  Why,  saith  the  Doctor,  that 
he  may  blow  the  flames  thereof  to  their  utmost  intensity  of  heat, 
and  thereby  inflict  a  more  poignant  suffering  on  the  unhappy 
spirits  consigned  thereto  !  Nor  is  that  all ;  but  God  must  be 
personally  in  hell,  in  order  that  he  may  quicken  the  insensibilities 
of  the  damned,  and  make  them  more  susceptible  to  the  influence 
of  the  flames  !  As  thus  portrayed,  I  found  it  impossible  to  dis- 
criminate between  God  and  the  devil ;  and,  consequently,  I  found 
it  impossible  also  to  love  the  one  more  than  the  other.  I  know 
of  millions  who  have. stumbled  into  hell  from  the  same  cause; 
for  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  thinking  beings  to  love  an  object 
that  is  represented  to  them  in  an  odious  and  detestable  light.  I 
therefore  loathed  both  God  and  the  devil  in  about  an  equal  degree ; 
but  I  have  since  learned  to  prefer  the  latter,  since,  though  he  lures 
men  into  sin,  he  can  plead  in  excuse  of  his  conduct,  that  it  is  from 
motives  of  opposition  to  their  Maker  rather  than  to  them ;  and 
moreover,  (as  he  pleads)  they  are  not  the  offspring  of  his  power,  for 
if  they  were,  he  could  find  means  to  take  care  of  them,  and  would 
certainly  not  permit  them  to  be  infinitely  ruined  by  a  foe  of  inferior 
power  to  his  own,  and  then  seek  to  excuse  himself  with  the  weak 
pretence,  that  he  could  not  help  it.  From  considerations  like 
these,  Satan  is  regarded  with  more  respect  by  his  subjects  than 
they  can  entertain  toward  the  infinite  Being  who  created  them, 
weak  and  ignorant,  and  then  exposed  them  to  be  entrapt,  and 
ruined  for  eternity,  by  his  wily  enemy — and  who,  with  all  his 
professed  love  for  them,  and  desire  for  their  salvation,  made  their 
final  and  everlasting  destiny  to  depend  on  their  giving  a  blind 
faith  to  certain  riddles  respecting  the  trinity  and  the  new  birth. 

"Well,  Mr.  Tub,"  continued   the   goblin,  "we  have  got  to 
within  a  few  yards  of  your  gate,  and  this  is  the  last  visit  I  am 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  369 

permitted  to  make  you — it  is  only  by  the  especial  grace  of  our 
prince  that  I  have  been  favored  with  a  short  furlough  from  hell 
these  three  times — so  I  shall  just  tell  you  for  your  comfort,  that 
you  will  be  one  day  favored  with  the  sight  of  your  poor  old  father, 
and  the  residue  of  the  gallant  fellows  who  slumber  with  him  under 
that  stone,  and  much  the  greater  part  of  the  brave  soldiers^of  the 
revolution — hundreds  of  whom  went  to  hell  from  the  battle-grounds 
of  Saratoga,  Monmouth,  Brandywine,  Germantown,  etc. — whose 
virtues  you  are  at  present  man  and  patriot  enough  to  admire. — 
But  at  the  era  to  which  I  allude,  you  will  be  so  much  a  dastard  as  to 
say  amen — some  of  the  old  divines  assert — to  laugh,  and  rejoice  at 
the  sentence  which  shall  seal  them  over  to  suffering  and  despair 
for  eternity.  I  speak  of  the  appointed  day  of  judgment,  when  our 
cause  is  to  have  a  re-hearing  ;  for — he,  he  !  we  are  committed  to 
hell  for  the  present  only  on  suspicion  !  As  one  of  the  elect,  Mr. 
Tub,  it  will  be  your  bounden  duty  to  sanction  all  the  divine 
doings — even  those  which  shall  consign  your  parents,  possibly 
also  your  children,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  millions  of  your 
fellow-beings,  amongst  whom  will  be  many  whose  virtues,  or 
splendid  deeds,  have  recommended  them  to  your  admiration,  and 
that  of  all  succeeding  generations,  to  a  doom  of  ceaseless  woe 
and  unmitigated  despair.  Do  you  recoil  at  the  thought,  Mr. 
Tub  ]  You  have  reason  to  suspect  that  you  are  not  a  genuine 
subject  of  grace  if  you  do.  You  must  not  allow  your  carnal  feel- 
ings of  sorrow,  or  pity,  to  be  exercised  about  these  matters ;  for 
when  you  get  to  heaven  you  will  be^so  far  conformed  to  the  divine 
dispositions,  that  you  can  see  those  whom  you  loved  and  venerated 
on  earth,  boiling  and  writhing  in  hell  with  great  complacency. — 
But  be  careful,  my  dear  fellow,  that  you  'give  all  diligence  to 
make  your  calling  and  election  sure ;'  for  in  the  judgement 
alluded  to,  it  may  possibly  be  found,  that  some  shall  have  been 
falsely  committed  to  hell,  and  others,  without  due  examination, 
admitted  to  heaven.  He,  he  !  it  would  be  considerably  to  the 
comfort  of  Shadrach  Paddle,  if  it  should  turn  out  that  such  a  mis- 
take has  occurred  in  his  case  !  for  although,  as  I  have  said,  there 
is  much  delectable  society  in  hell,  I  fear  I  shall  never  become 
quite  reconciled  to  its  climate.  I  would  also  forewarn  you,  my 
friend  Tab,  for  I  feel  an  interest  in  you  for  my  old  friend  Epaphro- 
ditos'  s?ike,  (and  that  the  damned  do  feel  an  interest  in  behalf  ot 


370  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL, 

the  dwellers  on  earth,  you  may  learn  from  the  story  in  your  sacred 
oracles  about  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,)  I  would  warn  you,  I 
say,  against  losing  your  foot-hold  in  heaven  when  once  you  get 
there  ;  for  since,  as  the  old  hymn  hath  it, 

*  From  heaven  the  sinning  angels  fell,' 
it  may  also  chance  that  some  sinning  saints  will  be  falling  from 
thence  some  time  or  other ;  and  beware,  my  dear  Triptolemus, 
that  you  are  not  overtaken  with  such  mishap,  for  the  change  of 
climate  in  such  case  (from  heaven  to  hell)  would  be  greatly  to 
the  detriment  of  your  comfort  and  constitution.  So  here  we  are 
at  your  gate — I  hope  you  have  found  me  very  pleasant  and  in- 
structive society,  Mr.  Tub — so  good  bye  to  you,  my  old  buck,' 

and  take  good  care  of  yourself The  next  moment  Sha- 

drach  Paddle — horse  and  all — had  vanished ! ! ! 

»*  Did  you  see  him,  Cato  ?"  inquired  the  elder  of  one  of  his 
negroes,  who  had  come  to  open  the  gate  for  him. 

"  Seed  who,  massa  1"  was  Cato's  returning  inquiry. 

"  Why,  the  person  who  rode  up  in  company  with  me,"  replied 
Mr.  Tub. 

Cato  shewed  his  ivories  from  ear  to  ear  as  he  exclaimed,  "  Lorra 
mercy,  massa !  I  did'nt  saw  nobody  at  all !  Golly !  him  mus  a 
bin  yar  shadder !" 

"  Well,  never  mind,  Cato,"  returned  the  elder.  "  Say  nothing 
about  it,  but  just  put  away  the  beast." 

But  the  matter  was  fated  not  to  be  thus  hushed  up ;  for,  unfor- 
tunately for  the  peace  of  our  friend  Triptolemus,  it  happened  that 
his  spouse  Dorothy  had  been  looking  out  at  the  door,  on  his  arri- 
val, and  had  overheard  his  inquiries  of  Cato.  So  she  plied  him 
with  question  upon  question,  and  had  recourse 'to  all  those  arts  of 
tantalization  which  the  gentle  sex  know  so  well  how  to  practice 
upon  the  lords  of  creation,  until  the  poor  elder  was  glad  enough 
to  make  a  clean  breast  in  order  to  escape  her  din.  Instead  of 
helping  the  matter,  however,  this  only  made  it  worse ;  for  Doro- 
thy threatened  him  with  hysterics  and  fainting-fits  to  the  end  of 
her  days,  unless  the  matter  were  instantly  submitted  to  the  con- 
sideration of  their  minister — who  was  sent  for  forthwith,  and  de- 
tained until  the  whole  aifair  had  been  rehearsed  and  canvassed  in 
all  its  forms  ;  which  occupied  the  worthy  trio  until  the  first  cock- 
crowing. 


BY  A  DAMNED  SPIRIT.  371 

"  I  sKould  not  hesitate,  elder,"  said  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smuggleton, 
at  parting,  "  to  resolve  this  matter  into  a  bona  fide  apparition  from 
the  infernal  pit,  were  it  not  for  the  horse,  on  which  you  represent 
Mr.  Paddle  to  have  been  mounted  during  the  last  interview ;  this 
circumstance  convinces  me  that  it  was  but  an  optical  illusion,  for 
dead  horses  have  no  ghosts  to  represent  them,  and  had  it  been  a 
living  horse  your  negro  would  have  seen  it  when  it  came  up  to 
the  gate.  I  must  therefore  decide,  Mr.  Tub,  that  it  was  all,  from 
first  to  last,  an  illusion  of  the  senses;  in  which  case  I  fear  that 
your  carnal  judgement  must  have  suggested  the  profane  and  im- 
pious matters  which  you  suppose  the  damned  spirit  to  have  com- 
municated. This  affair  must  be  brought  before  the  church,  Mr. 
Tub,  for  the  spirit  of  heresy  is  getting  to  be  too  rife  among  us  to 
be  gently  dealt  with — and  besides,  elder  Tub,  you  have  been  far 
less  liberal  of  your  carnal  means  in  the  cause  of  God  than  your 
circumstances  would  warrant.  You  are  but  God's  steward,  Mr. 
Tub,  in  regard  to  what  you  possess ;  and  when  you  withhold 
the  means  which  God  requires  for  carrying  on  his  purposes  of 
grace  in  the  world,  he  holds  you  guilty  of  a  robbery  of  himself. 
Remember  these  things,  elder  Tub,  for  the  church  has  too  long 
forborne  to  cut  off  its  dry  and  unprofitable  branches.  Good  night, 
Mr.  Tub." 


CONCLUSION. 


The  livelong  night  did  our  friend  Triptolemus,  and  his  spouse 
Dorothy,  lay  awake  in  conversation  on  the  matters  related  in 
the  preceding  narrative.  The  elder  confessed,  as  a  matter  of 
privacy,  to  his  loving  rib,  (in  whose  custody  the  secret  was  un- 
doubtedly safe,)  that  he  had  been  leaning  toward  heresy  some- 
what strongly  of  late  ;  and  that  in  all  probability  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Smuggleton  was  right  in  his  explanation  of  the  supposed  inter- 
views with  the  goblin.  "  But  then,  my  dear  Dorothy,"  continued 
the  elder,  "  we  must  take  counsel  of  prudence  in  our  management 
of  this  business.  Since  the  late  protracted  meeting,  the  church  has 
much  increased  in  numbers,  and  is  less  disposed  to  be  forbearant 
than  when  it  was  small  in  members  and  means.    I  have  lately 


872  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL. 

turned  my  store  and  tavern  into  temperance  establishments,  and 
have  the  promise  of  all  their  custom,  on  the  condition  that  I  give 
a  tenth  of  the  profits  to  the  Lord  ;  which  I  have  willingly  agreed 
to  do,  as  I  can  make  out  the  tithe  by  extra  charges.  They  have 
consented,  however,  that  I  shall  sell  out  the  stock  of  whiskey  now 
on  hand,  and  as  the  quantity  is  pretty  large,  it  may  (by  a  prudent 
process  of  watering)  be  made  to  hold  out  until  the  temperance 
mania  shall  subside.  All  things  considered,  therefore,  it  will  be 
much  to  our  carnal  interests  that  I  make  all  the  concessions  re- 
quired by  the  church  in  regard  to  this  ghost  business  ;  it  would 
not  do  to  be  turned  out  in  the  present  posture  of  affairs  !" 

"  Certainly  not,  Mr.  Tub,  certainly  not !"  replied  the  equally 
pliant  Dorothy.  "  Our  Keziah  is  now  president  of  the  Female 
Tract  Society  ;  and  Mr.  Smuggleton  speaks  so  highly  of  her 
gift  in  prayer,  that  I  am  pretty  sure  there  will  be  a  match  between 
them,  which  would  be  a  good  bargain  for  Keziah,  who  is  getting 
well  toward  thirty ;  but  if  you  were  turned  out  of  church,  Mr. 
Tub,  it  might  very  seriously  interrupt  that  speculation." 

In  short,  the  result  of  the  conference  between  this  loving  and 
pliant  couple  was,  that  the  elder  should  make  his  submission  in 
due  form — lament  over  his  spiritual  barrenness  and  short  comings— 
and  lay  the  blame  of  all  that  had  transpired  to  the  devil.  All 
which  was  accordingly  done  ;  and  I  have  the  great  pleasure  to 
inform  you,  reader,  that  in  all  these  worldly-wise  calculations, 
our  friend  Triptolemus  sped  to  admiration;  he  now  goes  the 
whole  animal  in  orthodoxy  for  fear  of  being  suspected  of  a  leaning 
to  the  other  side — so  that  he  retains  his  former  standing,  and  dig- 
nity, and  run  of  church  custom,  and  reputation  for  soundness  in 
faith.  Moreover,  Keziah  Tub  that  was,  is  now  Mrs.  Smuggleton; 
and  as  to  the  impudent  goblin.  Paddle,  he  has  never  since  been 
seen  in  those  parts,  either  on  foot  or  horseback,  and  devoutly  is  it 
to  be  hoped  that  he  never  will.     So  here  end  the 

REVELATIONS. 


APPENDIX 


REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL. 


The  foregoing  narrative,  gentle  reader,  is  in  a  lighter  and  more  ludi- 
crous strain  than  it  suits  my  general  taste  to  write,  or  yours,  it  may  be, 
to  peruse ;  if  you  have  supposed  my  design  therein  to  have  been  mere 
amusement,  at  the  expense  of  opinions  and  usages  held  sacred  by  many, 
you  have  greatly  misconceived  it.  An  author,  as  well  as  a  public  speaker, 
finds  that  different  modes  of  address  must  be  resorted  to,  in  order  to  gain 
access  to  different  minds.  Some  may  be  reached  by  closely  reasoned  argu- 
mentation— some  would  prefer  to  have  the  argument  diluted  with  some 
florid  and  gratuitious  declamation — some  require  to  be  stung  into  reflec- 
tion with  sarcasm — and  some  with  playful  satire.  In  this  case,  my  design 
has  been  to  bring  before  the  mind  some  facts  connected  with  the  notion 
of  endless  misery,  which  are  not  generally  taken  into  the  account  when 
that  topic  is  under  consideration ;  but  which,  on  account  of  their  magni- 
tude, are  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  serious  thoughts  of  all ;  and  if  the 
undeniable  results  of  a  doctrine  are  to  have  any  bearing  on  the  decision 
as  to  its  truth  or  falsity,  ought  to  seal  the  fate  of  the  merciless  dogma  of 
endless  woe,  effectually  and  forever. 

The  suggestions  respecting  the  magnitude  of  hell,  and  the  kind  of 
inhabitants  which  (among  others)  it  must  contain,  are  all,  as  I  conceive, 
fully  within  the  range  of  probability,  and  might  have  been  carried  even 
considerably  farther;  the  intelligent  reader,  on  reflection,  cannot  but 
entirely  concur  in  this.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Wilson,  of  Albany,  apparently  a 
very  conscientious  presbyterian  clergyman,  published  a  sermon  a  few 
years  since,  in  which  he  asserts  that  the  majority  of  the  framers  of  our 
federal  constitution  were  deists  or  atheists.  The  great  and  good  Wash- 
ington, himself,  he  supposes  to  hare  held  the  Christian  religion  in  light 
esteem ;  the  faith  of  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe  and  Franklin,  he  con- 
siders to  have  been  more  than  doubtful ;  and  that  of  the  Adamses  (being 
Unitarianism)  is,  in  his  judgment,  but  little  better;  nor  is  Dr.  Wilson 
alone,  by  a  great  deal,  in  these  suppositions.  I  presume  that  very,  very  few 
orthodox  ministers  can  be  found  who  would  deliberately  affirm,  that  they 
believe  these  distinguished  personages  to  have  possessed  that  pure  faith, 
and  to  have  undergone  that  divine  experience,  which  are  held  to  be  in- 
dispensable to  salvation  ;  and  if  they  did  not,  then,  on  the  popular 
hypothesis  of  endless  misery,  they  are  all  damned ! 

As  to  the  distinguished  personages  of  antiquity,  I  have  allowed  the 
goblin  to  allot  a  place  in  hell  to  only  such  of  them,  as,  from  their  histo- 
ries, aie  undoubtedly  there,  on  the  endless  misery  hypothesis.  Marcus 
Brutus,  with  all  his  virtues  (and  by  universal  testimony  these  were 
Vol.  I.— 2  G  373 


374       APPENDIX  TO  REVELATIONS  FROM  HELL. 

many  and  eminent)  terminated  his  life  by  suicide — which  was  a  common 
case  in  those  days.  The  virtuous  Roman  matron,  who  did  the  sarae  to 
prevent  violation,  and  thereby  occasioned  the  first  overthrow  of  monar- 
chical power  of  which  history  furnishes  the  record,  must  be  consigned 
to  a  common  hell  with  the  infamous  Cleopatra !  It  were  vain  to 
enlarge,  however,  for  the  scope  for  this  kind  of  reflections  is  bound- 
less. I  here  but  just  touch  on  these  facts,  that  the  reader  may  see,  that 
our  veritable  friend  Paddle's  speculations  about  hell  and  its  inhabitants, 
are  not  absolutely  gratuitous ;  in  fact,  they  were  entirely  designed  as  an 
indirect  mode  of  argumentation,  and  couched  in  their  present  form  the 
better  to  secure  a  reading  and  awaken  reflection. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  serious  and  moderate  portion  of  my  orthodox  rea- 
ders, will  not  accuse  me  of  an  attempt  to  ridicule  their  professions  or 
practice  in  the  person  of  elder  Tub.  It  is  known  that  hypocrites  and 
double-minded  persons  are  to  be  found  amongst  all  religious  classes — 
Christian,  Jew,  Mahomedan,  and  Pagan;  against  pretenders  of  this 
class  only  are  the  shafts  of  my  ridicule  directed.  The  sincere  Christian 
has  my  respect  and  my  aflfection,  wherever,  or  of  what  denomination 
soever,  he  is  found. 

"  To  those  I  render  more  than  mere  respect, 
Whose  actions  say  that  they  respect  themselves." 

But  the  hypocrite  has  my  detestation  and  contempt,  whether  he  be 
orthodox  or  heterodox  ;  for  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  free  from 
his  intrusions,  according  as  he  judges  that  with  the  one  or  the  other  his 
selfish  ends  may  be  best  promoted. 

The  reader  may  be  curious  to 'know  whether  there  is  actually  such  a 
spot  on  the  Virginia  shore  of  the  Ohio  as  that  described  in  the  preceding 
narrative.  To  this  I  can  only  answer,  that  I  was  informed  some  years 
ago  that  there  is  (or  used  to  be,  I  have  forgotten  which,)  a  stone  on  that 
shore,  the  precise  locale  of  which  I  did  not  learn,  which  bears  an  inscrip- 
tion to  the  purport  of  the  one  I  have  described.  This  is  all  I  know  about 
it ;  the  rest  is  fancy. 


HYMN GOSPEL  CONSUMMATION.  375 


THE  GOSPEL  CONSUMMATION. 

It  coraes  !  it  comes  !  we  now  behold 
The  dawn  of  times  by  seers  foretold, 

The  glorious  gospel  day  ; 
Soon,  soon  its  noon-tide  blaze  we'll  see, 
When  death,  and  sin,  and  tears  shall  flee, 

And  darkness  melt  away. 

Then  God  the  cov'ring  shall  remove, 
The  veil  that  now  conceals  his  love. 

And  all  shall  see  his  face  ; 
All  kindreds,  tribes,  and  tongues  shall  own 
Salvation  is  from  God  alone. 

The  gift  of  sov'reign  grace. 

Apostles,  prophets,  there  we'll  see, 
A  glorious  white-robed  company, 

Their  toils  and  sufl'rings  o'er  ; 
They  try  to  tell  the  depth  and  height 
And  length  of  goodness  infinite. 

And  all  its  breadth  explore. 

Hark  !  hark  !  we  hear  the  rapt'rous  song 
Of  the  redeem'd — a  countless  throng; 

"  Worthy  the  Lamb  !"  they  sing, 
"  Who  died  our  ruined  race  to  save ; 
Where  is  thy  boasted  vict'ry,  grave  1 

O  death  !  where  is  thy  sting  V 

The  Lord  will  then  his  table  spread, 
And  all  mankind,  with  Christ  their  head, 

Shall  to  that  feast  sit  down  ; 
The  ocean  of  his  pard'ning  grace 
Shall  all  their  sins  and  griefs  efface. 

And  their  remembrance  drown. 

Oh  !  blissful  time  !  oh  !  glorious  day  ! 
When  all  beneath  love's  boundless  sway 

O'erwhelm'd  with  bliss  shall  fall ; 
Shall  with  united  souls  accord, 
That  Christ  in  God  is  sov'reign  Lord, 

And  God  is  all  in  all. 


INDEX 


TO  COMPARISONS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS   USED  IN  THIS  WORK. 


Page. 
The  folly  of  intolerance  in  regard  to  differences  in  religious  opin- 
ions,   30,  31 

The  way  to  reconcile  apparent  discrepances  in  a  work  of  which 

the  author  is  known, 41 

The  injustice  of  holding  a  person  to  the  consequences  of  a  com- 
pact, m  wnich  he  was  not  a  voluntary  party, 58 

The  faithfulness  of  God,  in  his  promises,  is  not  dependant  on  the 

faith  of  man, 66 

Another  illustration  of  the  same  point, 67 

The  law  of  God  cannot  be  satisfied  with  what  it  does  not  require,         73 
The  divine  law  does  not  comprise  penalties  which  are  adapted  to 

defeat  its  own  ends,. . .' <  •  •  74 

The  Creator  would  not  have  brought  man  into  being,  with  the 

foresight  that  he  should  be  endlessly  miserable, 76 

And  provided  he  had  so  created  him,  he  would  have  been  justly 

chargeable  with  the  consequences, 77 

God's  relation  to  men,  as  Creator,  a  ground  for  his  pity  toward 

them, 78 

Our  unfilial  conduct  toward  God  does  not  change  his  relation  to 

us,  as  our  Father, 86 

The  endurance  of  God's  paternal  love, 87 

He  will  not  abandon  his  offspring  to  infinite  ruin, 88, 89 

The  character  of  a  ruler  inferrible  from  the  condition  of  his  sub- 
jects,  90,91 

A  ruler  is  answerable  for  the  avoidable  evils  which  he  wilfully 

admits  into  his  dominions, 91, 92 

The  folly  of  deferring  the  business  of  retribution, 94 

How  a  report  concerning  hell,  by  an  eye  witness,  would  affect  the 

reputation  of  the  sovereign  of  the  universe, 96,  97 

God  is  less  excusable  than  earthly  rulers,  (on  the  supposition  that 
he  inflicts  endless  suffering)  for  the  miseries  endured  by  the  vic- 
tims of  his  vengeance, 97, 98 

The  perseverance  of  the  good  shepherd  in  saving  lost  man, 113 

All  sentient  existence  must  centre  toward  God,  as  its  source, 117 

A  firm  belief  in  endless  misery  is  incompatible  with  a  sincere  love 

to  mankind, 134 

And  with  the  early  experience  of  every  christian, 125 

Our  eternal  interests  out  of  the  range  of  our  control, 133 

Vol.  I.— 2g2  377 


378  INDEX  TO  COMPARISONS  AND  ILLITSTRATIONS. 

Page 

The  use  of  religion  if  our  future  salvation  is  unconditional, 134 

Our  opponents  do  not  themselves  believe,  that  all  men  will  be  re- 
warded in  eternity  according  to  their  works  in  time, 136 

Why  universalists  do  not  believe,  that  God  has  threatened  end- 
less misery, 148,  149 

Sin,  according  to  endless  misery,  only  takes  us  the  sooner  to  hea- 
ven,         1 50 

Bad  society  in  heaven, ih. 

According  to  endless  misery  there  are  many  more  rogues  saved 

than  honest  men, 151 

The  same  doctrine  furnishes  motives  to  murder, 152 

A  peep  into  a  universalian,  and  an  endless  hell  futurity, 154,  155 

Is  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation  generally  pleasing  to  wicked 

men? 191 

And  displeasing  to  men  of  prayer  1 192 

The  supposed  remoteness  of  a  day  of  reckoning  for  deeds  perform- 
ed in  the  flesh,  must  tend  to  embolden  men  to  sin, 198 

It  gives  the  priesthood  an  influence  at  the  bed  of  death,  which  has 

often  been  abused, 199 

The  best,  as  the  worst  of  men,  must  needs  be  changed  after  death 

in  order  to  their  admission  to  the  realms  of  bliss, 234 

The  immutability  of  a  law  is  no  proof  that  its  penalties  are  eter- 
nal,        235 

The  divine  Being  is  not  subject  to  the  difficulties  which  beset  hu- 

me.n  legisktors, 236 

God  was  not  reduced  to  the  alternative  of  creating  some  for  mis- 
ery, or  not  at  all, 237 

Forgiveness  of  sin  does  not  (in  the  divine  economy)  imply  ex- 
emption from  deserved  punishment, 239 

Another  illustration  of  the  same  point, 240 

The  advantages  of  forgiveness  on  this  scheme, ib. 

If  punishment  is  for  our  benefit,  should  we  sin  the  more,  in  order 

to  incur  the  more  1 241 

The  penalty  of  death  for  murder  does  not  operate  to  prevent  it — 

Why? 242 

Difference  between  positive  and  moral  punishments,. 244,  245 

The  modes  of  punishment, 247,  248 

But  when  conscience  becomes  seared,  how  then  1 249 

A  consideration  of  that  punishment  which  is  natural  to  sin,  (and 
therefore  unavoidable)  can  alone  permanently  restrain  from 

crime, 250,  251 

Except  sin  continue  eternally,  punishment,  of  a  moral  kind,  can- 
not,  252,  253 

Neither  can  that  which  is  physical, 253 

The  very  consequences  of  an  evil  tend  to  effect  its  removal, 254 

But  why  may  not  sin  continue  to  eternity  ? 255 

Exemplary  punishment  cannot  be  needed  in  the  future  state,. . .       256 
The  goodness  of  God  is  itself  a  ground  for  supposing  that  the 

punishment  of  sin  is  present, 257, 258 


INDEX  TO  COMPARISONS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS.  379 

Page. 
According  to  endless  misery  punishment  is  both  disproportionate 

and  uncertain, 261,  262 

The  probable  origin  of  hell, 278,  279 

The  foreknowledge  of  events,  prove  also  their  foreappointment,.282,  283 
If  sin  is  of  God's  appointment,  I  will  commit  as  much  of  it  as  I 

please, 283 

No  rational  ground  betwixt  foreknowledge  and  foreordination,..285,  286 
The  foreappointment  of  ends  implies  also  a  foreappointment  of 

means, 287,  288 

I  am  a  free  agent,  for  I  can  do  as  I  please, 290 

God  controls  us  by  the  agency  of  our  will,  not  against  it, 294 

Why  is  one  a  christian,  and  another  not  ? 295 

Why  suffer  we  for  sin  if  it  is  unavoidable  1 297 

Facts  prove  that  our  advantages  over  others  are  not  of  our  own 

making, 298 

Election  does  not  necessarily  imply  reprobation, 303,  304 

It  were  partiality  in  God  to  pardon  some  who  are  as  guilty  as 

others  whom  he  executes, 309 

Why  are  means  necessary  for  bringing  about  a  result  which  is 

unchangeably  foreordained  1 310 

God  is  as  accountable  for  what  he  permits,  as  for  what  he  ordains,       313 
If  we  say  that  the  scriptural  terms  rendered  forever,  everlasting, 
etc.,  radically  signify  eternity,  how  will  we  get  along  with  the 

Jew] 315 

We  cannot  form  an  adequate  conception  of  eternity, 319 

Our  happiness  is  increased  by  contrast, 326 

If  even  there  be  no  punishment  in  eternity,  men  may  be  advan- 
taged according  to  their  advancement  in  moral  improvement  in 
life, 332 


INDEX 


TO  THE  SCRIPTURE  TEXTS  COMMENTED  ON  IN  THIS  WORK,  WHICH  ARE 
USUALLY  URGED  AGAINST  THE  UNIVERSALIAN  FAITH. 


Page. 

Prov.  i.  26.    I  also  will  laugh  at  your  calamity,  etc 54 

John  xvii.  9.     I  pray  not  for  the  world, 110,  111 

Jude,  verse  7.  Even  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  and  the  cities  ahout 
them,  in  like  manner,  giving  themselves  over  to  fornication, 
and  going  after  strange  flesh,  are  set  forth  for  an  example,  suf- 
fering the  vengeance  of  eternal  fire, 114, 115 

Rom.  ix.  1 — 3.  I  say  the  truth  in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience 
also  bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have  great 
heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  in  my  heart.  For  I  could  wish 
that  mysetf  were  accursed  from  Christ  for  my  brethren,  my 
kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh, 115, 116 

Rom.  X.  1.    Brethren,  my  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for 

Israelis,  that  they  might  be  saved, 116 

Ezek.  xviii.  4.     The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die, 135 

Mark  xvi.  16.     He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned, ib. 

Gal.  vi.  8.  For  he  that  soweth  to  his  flesh,  shall  of  the  flesh  reap 
corruption  ;  but  he  that  soweth  to  the  Spirit,  shall  of  the  Spirit 
reap  life  everlasting, ib. 

2  Cor.  V.  10.  For  we  must  all  appear  before  the  judgment-seat 
of  Christ,  that  every  one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  his 
body,  according  to  that  he  hath  done,  whether  it  be  good  or 
bad, 136 

Matt.  xix.  16.     What  good  thing  shall  I  do,  that  I  may  inherit 

eternal  Ufe, 137—187 

Matt.  vii.  13.  Enter  ye  in  at  the  strait  gate  :  for  wide  is  the  gate, 
and  broad  is  the  way,  that  leadeth  to  destruction,  and  many 
there  be  which  go  in  thereat, 140, 141 

Heb.  xii.  14.     Without  holiness,  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord,. . . .        142 

Matt.  XXV.  31,  46.  When  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  his 
glory,  etc.,  and  all  others  pertaining  to  Christ's  coming  to  judge 
and  reward  men  according  to  their  works, 157 — 187 

Mai.  iv.  1 — 6.  Behold  the  day  cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven, 

etc., 162,  163 

Matt,  viii,  11,  12.  Ye  shall  see  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and 
all  the  prophets  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  ye  yourselves  shall 
be  thrust  out, 165 

Luke  xvi.  19 — 31.     The  rich  man  and  Lazarus,. . . .  167, 168,  184,  187 
381 


382        INDEX  TO  SCRIPTURE  TEXTS  COMMENTED  UPON. 

Page. 

Matt.  XXV.  1—12.     The  ten  virgins, 169 

Matt.  xxii.  1 1.     And  when  the  king  came  in  to  see  the  guests,  he 

saw  there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a  wedding-garment, 186 

Matt.  xiii.  24 — 30.     The  tares  and  wheat, 170,  171 

Matt.  xiii.  47,  48.    The  net  cast  into  the  sea, ib. 

Matt.  XXV.  46.  And  these  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punish- 
ment :  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal, 174,  175,  186,  187 

Matt.  XXV.  45.    The  devil  and  his  angels, 180,  181 

Matt.  xi.  21,  22.  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin,  etc.  It  shall  be 
more  tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon  at  the  day  of  judgment  than 
for  thee 202,  203 

Acts  xvii.  30, 31.     Because  he  hath  appointed  a  day,  in  the  which 

he  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  etc., 204,  205 

2  Pet.  iii.  7 — 13.    But  the  heavens  and  the  earth  which  are  now, 

are  reserved  unto  fire  against  the  day  of  judgment,  etc.,. . .  .205 — 207 

2  Thess.  i.  6 — 10.  Seeing  it  is  a  righteous  thing  with  God  to  re- 
compense tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you  ;  and  to  you 
who  are  troubled,  rest  with  us,  when  the  Lord  Jesus  shall  be 
revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming  fire 
taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God,  and  that  obey 
not  the  gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  who  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
from  the  glory  of  his  power ;  when  he  shall  come  to  be  glori- 
fied in  his  saints,  and  to  be  admired  in  all  them  that  believe 
(because  our  testimony  among  you  was  believed)  in  that 
day, 207—2 1 1 

Heb.  ix.  27.     It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  but  after  this 

the  judgment, 211—213 

Rev.  XX.  11 — 15.  And  I  saw  a  great  white  throne,  and  him  that 
sat  on  it,  from  whose  face  the  earth  and  the  heaven  fled  away  ; 
and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  And  I  saw  the  dead, 
small  and  great,  stand  before  God  :  and  the  books  were  opened  ; 
and  another  book  was  opened,  which  is  the  book  of  life :  and 
the  dead  were  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were  written 
in  the  books,  according  to  their  works.  And  the  sea  gave  up 
the  dead  which  were  in  it ;  and  death  and  hell  delivered  up  the 
dead  which  were  in  them  :  and  they  were  judged  every  man 
according  to  their  works.  And  death  and  hell  were  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire.  This  is  the  second  death.  And  whosoever  was 
not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life  was  cast  into  the  lake  of 
fire.      (And  its  parallel  text  in  Daniel,) 213—217 

Matt.  xvi.  26.  For  what  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  1  or  what  shall  a  man  give 
in  exchange  for  his  soul? 218 

Eccles.  viii.  11.  Because  sentence  against  an  evil  work  is  not 
executed  speedily,  therefore  the  heart  of  the  sons  of  men  is  fully 
set  in  them  to  do  evil, 219 

Dan.  xii.  2.  And  many  of  them  that  sleep  in  thp,  dust  of  the  cai  ih 
shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt, 22 1 ,  222 


INDEX  TO  SCRIPTURE  TEXTS  COMMENTED  UPON.         383 

John  V.  28,  29.     Marvel  not  at  this :  for  the  hour  is  coming,  in    ^^'S^- 
the  which  all  that  are  in  the  graves  shall  hear  his  voice,  and 
shall  come  forth  ;  they  that  have  done  good,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  life ;  and  they  that  have  done  evil,  unto  the  resurrec- 
tion of  damnation, 223,  224 

John  viii.  21.  Then  said  Jesus  again  unto  them,  I  go  my  way, 
and  ye  shall  seek  me,  and  shall  die  in  your  sins  :  whither  I  go, 
ye  cannot  come, 225,  226 

Matt.  xii.  31,  32.  But  whosoever  speaketh  against  the  Holy 
Ghost,  it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  world,  nei- 
ther in  the  world  to  come, 227,  228 

Matt.  xxvi.  24.  But  woe  unto  that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of 
man  is  betrayed  !  it  had  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not 
been  born.     (And  all  the  texts  pertaining  to  Judas,) 229 — 231 

John  iii.  3.  Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  king- 
dom of  God, 232 

1  Cor.  vi.  9,  10.  Know  ye  not  that  the  unrighteous  shall  not  in- 
herit the  kingdom  of  God  !  Be  not  deceived  :  neither  fornica- 
tors, nor  idolaters,  nor  adulterers,  nor  effeminate,  nor  abusers  of 
themselves  with  mankind,  nor  thieves,  nor  covetous,  nor  drunk- 
ards, nor  revilers,  nor  extortioners,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God, 232—234 

Gen.  ii.  17.     In  the  day  that  thou  eatest  thereof  thou  shalt  surely 

die, 244 

Eccles.  ix.  10.  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy 
might ;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  nor 
wisdom,  in  the  grave,  whither  thou  goest, 265 

Ps.  ix.  17.  The  wicked  shall  be  turned  into  hell,  and  all  the  na- 
tions that  forget  God, 266 

Deut.  xxxii.  22.  For  a  fire  is  kindled  in  mine  anger,  and  shall 
burn  unto  the  lowest  hell,  and  shall  consume  the  earth  with  her 
increase,  and  set  on  fire  the  foundations  of  the  mountains,. . . .       268 

Mark  ix.  43 — 48.  If  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off";  it  is  bet- 
ter for  thee  to  enter  into  life  maimed,  than  having  too  hands  to 
go  into  hell,  into  the  fire  that  never  shall  be  quenched  ;  where 
their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.  And  if 
thy  foot  offend  thee,  cut  it  off":  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  halt 
into  life,  than  having  too  feet  to  be  cast  into  hell,  into  the  fire 
that  never  shall  be  quenched  ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not, 
and  the  fire  is  not  quenched.  And  if  thine  eye  offend  thee, 
pluck  it  out :  it  is  better  for  thee  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  with  one  eye,  than  having  two  eyes  to  be  cast  into  hell- 
fire  ;  where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quench- 
ed,  271—273 

Matt,  xxiii.  33.     How  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  belli. . . .       274 

Mark  ix.  43 — 48.     And  the  fire  is  not  quenched — never  shall  be 

quenched,  etc., 274,  275 

Luke  xii.  4,  5.  Be  not  afraid  of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  after 
that,  have  no  more  that  they  can  do  :  but  fear  him,  which  after 
he  hath  killed,  hath  power  to  cast  into  hell, 276, 277 


384        INDEX  TO  SCRIPTURE  TEXTS  COMMENTED  UPON. 

Page. 

2  Cor.  iv.  3,  4.  But  if  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them  that 
are  lost :  in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  the  minds 
of  them  which  believe  not,  lest  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel 
of  Christ  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto  them,.. 306,  307 

2  Thess.  ii.  11,  12.  God  shall  send  them  strong  delusion,  that 
they  should  believe  a  lie ;  that  they  all  might  be  damned  who 
believed  not  the  truth,  but  had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness, . . .     ib. 

1  Chron.  xxviii.  9.  If  thou  seek  him,  he  will  be  found  of  thee ; 
but  if  thou  forsake  him,  he  will  cast  thee  off  for  ever, 318,  319 

Rev.  XX.  14.     The  lake  of  fire  and  second  death, 321—323 

Rev.  xxi.    The  Millennium,  or  Christ's  latter  reign  on  the  earth, .  324,  325 


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